The School Corridor Tatler

Lavender Hill is a community that is under siege, but Lavender Hill will never be a trending favourite with mainstream media. Yesterday, children as young as eight years old, who were on their way to school, saw once again, how one gangster was killed by another rival gang member. The shooting took place at about 8 0'clock on an open field opposite Hillwood Primary School. School children use the very same open field as a thoroughfare to their schools. You will see children in their various school uniforms from Zerilda Park Primary, Hillwood Primary, Levana Primary, Prince George Primary and Lavender Hill High School, walking to their only real hope to help them escape the poverty and other evils of their neighbourhood. When the shooting happened, the children were there on the field, caught in this crossfire. Young children watched the shot man stagger across the field and then saw him jerk before finally dying.  These same children are writing their final examinations.

The Elders sat and listened ...   A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of. Nelson Mandela. Dear All FYI The taxi violence (and gang and drugs impact) have escalated in the Vrygrond and Lavender Hill areas and this is having a serious impact on our work. Yesterday (TUES) I had to shift the venue for our Maths workshop because of the killings in Vrygrond and the threat to teachers’ safety. Today (WED) I was at Zerilda Park at 08.15am. The situation and mood was already tense in the area. From early the morning, parents were frantically fetching their children. Roads were closed near the school. Michael was also at the school. We asked the school to keep a record of learners leaving and to let parents sign when they pick up their children. The principal, Ms Engledoe, kept the learners who remained until dismissal times (FP and IP) and the police were visible at these time

Learners pledging their commitment to uphold the anti-bully code   Term 2 of this year has started just two days ago. And so has the shooting between two rival gangs in the Lavender Hill area. This morning was no different. In the Lavender Hill township, learning, looking for employment and dodging bullets are par for the course.   At about eight o clock this morning, while the learners were walking to school, gunshots were fired from one block of flats to another block of flats further north. Only an open field of about 500m separates these blocks of flats. This very field is the one that the learners of the primary schools of Levana and Hillwood and Lavender Hill High school use to get to school on time. Between the three schools the learner pedestrian traffic is in the region of 3 600 learners. When the children leave their homes in the morning, they become moving targets, already at risk less than 500m from home or school.     When I arrived at Hillwood Primary school to attend th