South Africa’s schools are facing an alarming surge in violence, with the stabbing of a principal and several learners in Gauteng this week reigniting calls for urgent action to restore safety in classrooms.

On Monday, 18 August 2025, chaos erupted at Hoërskool Roodepoort when a group of learners from nearby West Ridge High School allegedly stormed the campus, pelting cars with stones and attacking fellow learners. In the midst of the violent confrontation, the principal of Hoërskool Roodepoort was stabbed in the hand while attempting to intervene. Three learners were also seriously injured in the attack and rushed to hospital.

The principal has since been discharged.
The Gauteng Department of Education confirmed that six Grade 12 boys from West Ridge High have been suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. Provincial MEC for Education Matome Chiloane condemned the incident as “completely unacceptable” and warned that violence will not be allowed to “take root in our schools.”

“It is disturbing that a principal, in her efforts to protect learners, was harmed in the process. Our schools must remain centres of safety, learning, and growth, not battlegrounds,” Chiloane said.

Psycho-social support teams have been dispatched to both schools, while police in Roodepoort have been asked to conduct unannounced search-and-seizure operations for dangerous weapons.

The South African Union Council of Independent Churches (SAUCIC) has called for extraordinary measures to deal with escalating school violence, warning that failure to act decisively could plunge schools into a “vicious cycle of violence.”

“Urgent amendments of regulations, school rules and the learners’ code of conduct are necessary to allow summary dismissal of learners involved in violent acts that threaten the lives of others,” said SAUCIC President Cardinal Archbishop Dr Modiri Patrick Shole.

Shole wished the injured learners and the principal a speedy recovery but stressed that broader systemic reform was needed. He urged the Department of Basic Education to consult with school governing bodies and civil society to address root causes such as bullying, drug abuse, gang rivalry, and even spiritual influences.

“If demonic spirits are involved, spiritual intervention in the form of fervent prayer is required to wrestle our children and schools from satanic strongholds,” he said.

The Roodepoort incident is only the latest in a growing string of violent cases that have shaken public confidence in the safety of schools: KwaZulu-Natal, June 2025: A Grade 10 learner was fatally stabbed by a fellow pupil during an argument over a cellphone at a Durban township school. Eastern Cape, July 2025: Two learners in Gqeberha were arrested after police found loaded firearms in their schoolbags, allegedly linked to gang turf wars. Limpopo, July 2025: A 17-year-old boy was hospitalised after being hacked with a machete during a fight at a Polokwane high school. Gauteng, August 2025: Several school fights in Soweto went viral on social media, with videos showing learners armed with knives and sticks. Western Cape, August 2025: Teachers at schools in Mitchells Plain reported growing fears of gang recruitment spilling into classrooms, with one learner caught carrying an axe.

Education experts warn that easy access to weapons, combined with the viral nature of social media, has created a dangerous environment where violent behaviour is being glamorised and replicated across schools.

Parents from both Hoërskool Roodepoort and West Ridge High expressed outrage that simmering tensions between learners had escalated into a stabbing.

“Our children are not safe anymore,” said one Roodepoort parent. “We send them to school to learn, not to fight for their lives.”

Community leaders in Johannesburg’s West Rand also raised concerns about gang activity influencing school rivalries. Some learners, they argue, are being drawn into a culture of violence outside school hours that later spills into classrooms.

The Gauteng Department of Education has promised to fast-track measures to tighten school safety. These include: More random searches for weapons. Stronger collaboration with SAPS and community policing forums. Expanded psycho-social support for learners exposed to violence.

However, critics argue that these steps fall short of addressing deeper social problems driving school violence. Civil society groups say poverty, unemployment, and the lack of recreational facilities are fuelling drug abuse and gang-related tensions among learners.

SAUCIC maintains that spiritual intervention should be part of the solution. “Besides rules and regulations, schools need to reintroduce moral and spiritual guidance to combat the collapse of values that is manifesting in this violence,” Shole said.

As investigations continue into the Roodepoort stabbing, the incident has intensified pressure on education authorities to act decisively. Stakeholders agree that a zero-tolerance approach must be enforced — but whether this will be enough to stop the rising tide of school violence remains to be seen.

For now, parents, teachers, and learners are left shaken. “We fear that tomorrow it could be another school, another stabbing, or worse,” said a teacher from Soweto. “The violence must be stopped before schools turn into war zones.”