Police called to cut ‘unruly hairstyles’ at Mariental school

A CALL to the police to control unruly pupils at a school in Mariental turned unusual after the law-enforcement officers ended up cutting several boys’ hair.

Pictures of the incident went viral on social media early this week showing three pupils of the Mariental Secondary School kneeling on the ground while the police officers ran hair clippers through their hair.

Hardap regional police commander John Lifasi told on Thursday that the haircuts were not part of Operation Kalahari Desert as some speculated on social media.

Lifasi explained that on the day of the incident, the police were called to the school by the teachers to assist them with calming down uncontrollable pupils.

“Teachers called the police because there were some problems at the school and when they arrived, they were told that there were a few unruly boys and that is why they wanted police assistance,” he said.

When the police arrived at the school, Lifasi said the officers found that the case of unruliness reported by the teachers was over the hairstyles of some pupils which the school said was not appropriate.

“The school’s LRC [Learners Representative Council] were cutting the hair of the unruly learners, not the whole school, just a handful of leaners,” he said, adding that the police officers then took over the cutting of hair.

Lifasi added that the boys seen in the picture gave the police officers their consent to cut their hair.

“The learners who were seen on social media, getting their hair cut from the police officer, asked the police officer if he could cut their hair. It was not an operation that was conducted,” he said.

Lifasi added that the police usually visits the school’s hostel once a month to do routine searches among the pupils’ properties.

“The police usually do searches at hostels monthly to remove lethal objects and weapons because there is no reason why learners should keep weapons,” he said.

He added that no police officer would cut the hair of any civilian without their consent, as it is a crime.

“Any person’s hair should not be cut without their consent because it is a crime and police officers will not go to schools and commit crimes,” said Lifasi.

Police spokesperson deputy commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi said that although he does not know how the police ended up at the school, he could confirm that it was not because of Operation Kalahari Desert.

could not get comment from the school management yesterday.