Fears grow over school stand-off

THERE are fears that more violent scenes may unfold at Addington Primary School in Durban as tensions over learner enrollment saw South African parents and foreign nationals clash in full view of children.

- SIPHO JACK

This week’s confrontation highlighted deeper societal challenges around access to education in a province struggling with limited resources.

Professor Wayne Hugo, an educational expert at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, described the unrest as “worrying” and suggested that beneath the surface lay a “dark and nasty” development, fuelled by coercion and desperation among parents competing for scarce public resources.

As one of the few functional schools in Durban's CBD, Addington has become a focal point for mounting pressure caused by systemic education failures in the province.

Tensions escalated on Wednesday when local parents accused the school of giving preference to foreign learners over South African children.