Lesiba Khota’s aunt Octavia Khota
The Gauteng Department of Education is keeping mum about an incident whereby a learner, Lesiba Khota, was beaten up by almost half the number of learners of his school in a mob attack incident at Ntsha-Peu Primary School in Soshanguve when the schools reopened on 22 July this year.
Gauteng Education Spokesperson Steve Mabona promised to investigate this matter and said he would revert to Tshwane Talks but up until now he has failed to keep his promise.
According to Lesiba Khota’s aunt Octavia Khota, Lesiba was beaten up at the behest of an old lady who sells food outside the school yard of Ntsha-Peu Primary.
“Without proof whatsoever, the old lady just pointed out at Lesiba as the person who had stolen her money and the learners of the school then attacked Lesiba in a mob, kicked him brutally all over the body including on his groin, slapped him and even hit him with stones,” explained Octavia Khota.
“We took Lesiba to the local clinic and then reported the matter to the school, but the school’s acting principal Mrs Phadi expressed nonchalance about the matter and didn’t even take notes regarding what we were talking to her about,” said Octavia Khota.
“The principal actually told us that we were inconveniencing her because she wanted to get along with her work,” she said.
According to Khota, the principal apparently opines that since the incident technically happened just outside the school yard, the matter is none of her business whatsoever, despite the fact that learners of her school were the ones involved in the fracas.
She explained that even up to now Lesiba Khota is still suffering pain from the beating that he was subjected to by his fellow learners.
“Lesiba still experiences pain, especially on his buttocks because he fell onto a rock during the mob attack,” lamented Khota who revealed that even Lesiba’s class teacher didn’t take the matter seriously.
“We were told back then by the principal that she would convene a meeting within 14 days whereby learners who attacked Lesiba will be present together with their parents but even today we are still waiting for the so-called meeting,” said an aggrieved Khota.
“Now instead of investigating the matter, some Gauteng Department of Education officials went to Ntsha-Peu Primary School where they admonished Lesiba and his sister and warned them to stop telling lies about the incident,” lamented Khota.
She said they enlisted the help of learner organisation Congress of South African Students (COSAS) to ventilate the seriousness of the matter.
COSAS Greater Tshwane Regional Coordinator Kagiso Maziya told Tshwane Talks that the principal of Ntsha-Peu Primary School Mrs Phadi is very rude; that she looks down at those that she thinks are inferior to her in status.
“We confronted the principal and demanded to know why she was not doing anything about the fact that Lesiba Khota was wrongfully treated like a criminal by a vendor and subsequently attacked by his fellow learners, but our queries fell on deaf ears,” said Maziya.
“The SGB of Ntsha-Peu is also ignorant about serious cases of this nature and they have shown disrespect to us as COSAS as well as to the family of Lesiba Khota,” explained Maziya.
“The community is now angry with the principal and is on a mission to get her removed as principal of Ntsha-Peu Primary,” said Maziya.
Other allegations made against the acting principal Mrs Phadi are that she insists that the parent of each learner at the school must pop out R600 which she says it is “a donation,” yet Ntsha-Peu Primary is a non-fee-paying school.
“A donation by its nature is something that is made voluntarily and once one is forced to pay a donation then it becomes something else altogether; maybe extortion,” said one concerned parent.
Yet another allegation made against Mrs Phadi is that in instances whereby learners get involved in car accidents just outside the school yard, she would refuse to help or be involved in any way whatsoever; always insisting on the tired excuse that the incident happened outside the premises of the school.