On March 8, Nhlanhla Tshabalala, a 15-year-old pupil at Reshogofaditswe Secondary School in Ekurhuleni, went to Tsakane Secondary School to fetch his bag.
It had been taken from him by a school groundsman the day before when he’d gone to the school and seemingly caused trouble outside the gate following an earlier fight with one of its pupils.
On the second day of his visit he was carrying what would later be confirmed to be a toy gun, which witnesses said he had brandished around.
On seeing what they thought was a firearm, the groundsman, Sihle Shongwe, and teacher Pontsho Ngwato held him down in an effort to subdue and disarm him.
Two other staff members joined in to hold him down.
A video showing the staff members holding him down was circulated on social media.
Tshabalala was then taken to the principal’s office, police were called and they took him home. Later that evening he died.
A postmortem report confirms he died from a fractured skull.
An investigation report by the education department released last week has cleared the staff members from any liability for his injury and death.
Those involved deny assaulting the teenager.
Their version of events is that Shongwe held him from behind while Ngwato disarmed him.
But this does not explain how the teenager could have received such blunt force trauma to his head that his skull fractured.
It is bizarre that the department’s investigators seem to readily accept the version of the staff members involved on the basis that it was backed by their colleagues but did not seek to understand how such a severe injury to a 15 year old could have been inflicted.
There can be no doubt that Tshabalala’s behaviour in the lead-up to his death was problematic.
His friends confirmed that he had brought liquor to the school.
The toy gun was obviously an attempt to create a false sense of bravado and intimidate those in whose presence he felt vulnerable.
By all means, like any arrant teenager, he should have been held accountable for his actions.
But he did not deserve to die.
Those whose actions led to his death must face appropriate legal consequences.
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