The Eastern Cape MEC for Education, Fundile Gade, confirmed that the Department of Education will work hard with other governmental stakeholders to ensure that the incident which happened at Mgezwa Senior Secondary School in Lusikisiki, where three teachers who were leaving Grade 12 evening classes on May 11, were attacked by a gunman, does not happen again.
Gade visited the school and the home of one educator, Aphiwe Qaba (27), who died in this tragedy, yesterday. The aim of the visit was to update teachers, learners and family members on the security measures undertaken to ensure safety for all and to give love and support to Qaba’s family.
Qaba was travelling with colleagues when the gunman opened fire on them, as they were approaching an area where the road had been affected by the recent heavy rains, which necessitated the car to slow down. The driver of the car tried to escape, and the gunman tried to catch up with him, while still firing his gun.
The teachers finally managed to escape and were rushed to St Elizabeth Hospital for medical assistance. Qaba was transferred to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, where he passed away on the morning of May 12.
Gade said they were taking this matter seriously because this could lead to more deaths.
“People might suspect each other and start taking revenge.
“Secondly, the teachers might end up refusing to take responsibility for the learners, stating that they were not even paid for the evening classes. They were only doing this to improve the matric results,” said Gade.
He added that, as the department and other stakeholders, they would make sure that all teachers and learners were safe.
“Let us trust the cops to do their jobs and arrest the suspects. We are happy that there are some leads that are being followed which could lead to an arrest.
“I am worried because most of the good matric results come (as a result of) these evening classes. So, we have to make sure that safety comes first.”
The chairperson for school governing body (SGB), Sonwabo Ndabeni, said they were shocked about this incident. He said this was the first incident to happen in their school.
“The teachers are very worried about this and their safety because they don’t know what would happen next. We are going to meet all the stakeholders and discuss the way forward to end crime in this area.
“Our children are not safe because some of them could be robbed and raped while coming home from school,” said Ndabeni.
One of the members of the Qaba family, Vangomntu Jalatile, said they were not coping at all because the deceased was very young, leaving behind his unemployed wife and an 18-month-old baby.
“We don’t know what will happen now,” said Ndabeni.
Police spokesperson, Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana, said that no arrests had been made yet.
