Teacher hijacked at school, principal robbed at gunpoint

A school principal was robbed at gunpoint  at a Tshwane school while a teacher in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, was hijacked in the school parking lot.

Both incidents happened on Tuesday as schools were reopening following the Easter break.

The principal at Senthibele Secondary School in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, was approached by two gunmen when he arrived at the school on Tuesday. Shots where fired towards his direction and they hit his vehicle. He was robbed of his two cellphones before he ran away and the men fled.

Gauteng department of education spokesperson Steve Mabona told Sowetan: “Information at our disposal states that the principal was allegedly approached by two gunmen when arriving at the school's gate this morning (on Tuesday). Four shots were fired, however he was not shot, and was only robbed of two cellphones. Employee Assistance Wellness Programme [members] have been deployed at the school for necessary support.”

Ester Mahlangu, a street vendor at Senthibele who lives six houses away from the school, said it was by God's grace that the principal did not get hurt.

“We did not see where the gunmen came from and they are unknown to us,” she said.

She added that as soon as the gunshots were fired, the principal abandoned his car at the school's main gate and ran for his life. 

“The car had two bullet holes on the windscreen,” said Mahlangu.

Sipho Ntlapho, 35, a taxi operator who delivers children at the school, said the incident proves that children’s safety is not prioritised by government. “Police officials should be deployed at schools because security guards don’t have guns and can’t protect our children from gun-wielding thugs,” said Nhlapho.

The classes were dismissed at 11am.

Lerato Tsotetsi, 18, a pupil at the school, told Sowetan that she will not report at the school today.

“We are not sure if the culprits won't come back tomorrow [today]. We are also not certain if this was a personal attack or just a robbery,” said Tsotetsi.

In another incident in the Eastern Cape, a teacher was hijacked in the car park at school  in Gqeberha. The teacher at Sanctor High School had just pulled into the car park at about 7.25am when the incident happened.

Sanctor principal Keith Buck said he had just finished the early morning prayers with his administration staff and was returning to his office when pupils rushed in shouting that there was something going on outside.

“I ran out to the car park where the noise was coming from just in time to see the teacher standing there and his vehicle pulling away. I couldn’t see the people inside the car properly but there were three of them,” Buck said.

“The teacher, who cannot be named at this stage, had just been thrown out of the vehicle.”

Buck said the teacher told of how he had arrived at school and pulled into his parking place when a man came up to his window.

“It seems the guy was asking a painting piece job and the teacher was confused as to who he was and what he was talking about. Next thing this man pulled out a gun and two other guys appeared, they shouted that he must move over [to the passenger seat] as they were taking him and the car.

“They then changed their mind and threw him out the car.”

Buck said it was not clear how the men got into the car park but they had likely slipped through the gate as it was being opened to let staff in.

The teacher was  not harmed.

Police spokesperson Col Priscilla Naidu confirmed the incident. “A case of vehicle hijacking was opened for further investigation,” she said.