The Department of Education has emphasised that communities also need to play their part in the efforts to make schools in the country safe. "In as much as we strive to make our schools safe havens, we also need parents and communities to play a major role in making our schools safer," spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said. He said pupils who became criminals came from communities and families, urging parents to be actively involved in their children's schooling.

Teachers in Federal and Unity Schools yesterday commenced their indefinite strike to protest the plan by the Federal Government to sell their schools to private managers.

AS CONGO PREPARES FOR A RUN-off election between incumbent Joseph Kabila and Jean Pierre Bemba, the focus will be on the country's Electoral Commission, which urgently needs to deal with the many organisational weaknesses witnessed during the first round of polling. The first round was, in many ways, a success, with 18 million voting in around 50,000 polling stations.

A split among top LRA commanders and the diaspora community that has been supporting them is threatening the future of the Juba peace talks. "Within the LRA, there is a split between those who are tired of fighting but are being held back, and those who don't want to go to Congo like Thomas Kwoyelo," a source said.