Pupil stabbed to death at Gauteng school had suffered history of bullying, family says

• The family of a student stabbed to death believe his life could have been saved if teachers and Geluksdal residents had intervened.
• The family claimed that the teachers or residents should have taken their son to a local clinic or hospital.
• Shawn Mphela was certified dead outside his school after being stabbed Thursday.

The family of a 10th grader stabbed to death outside Geluksdal High School on Thursday believe his death could have been prevented.

The family said they had complained about 18-year-old Shawn Mphela being bullied by students at the school.

According to her aunt, Lerato Mohau, the family had complained about how Mphela suffered racial and physical abuse at school.

Mphela, who had been involved in an altercation earlier in the day, was stabbed to death on her way home from school.

“I was at home around 5:00 p.m. when they called me. [and told] that my son was injured. I called other relatives. We drive to school. We saw a group of people gathered outside the gate. He was there, lying lifeless. He was bleeding,” Mohau said.

“I picked him up and saw a wound under his heart. That’s where he was stabbed. He was stabbed once, not multiple times as many claim,” Mohau said.

Mphela’s classmates told them that he was stabbed to death by a group of children who were not students at the school.

“Those children waited for an ambulance for more than two hours before it arrived. They claimed that he died before the ambulance arrived. If people had reacted in time, he would have been alive.

“We felt that the Geluksdal community did not care. Where were the residents? [who live] Close to the school? They didn’t bother to intervene,” Mohau said.

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“This is sad and heartbreaking. We expected him to come home from school, not go to the morgue. It was painful to receive a call to run to school. What did people do while waiting for an ambulance?

“These fights have been going on since last year. He was always bullied at school.”

According to Mohau, the school knew that Mphela was being bullied. She said:

She continued: “He was a trustworthy kid. He was killed for nothing, and we want answers.”

He added that they had received complaints of racial tension at the school and Mphela spoke out against racism.

Racism

Gauteng MEC of Education Matome Chiloane said racism would not be tolerated at school.

“We are baffled by his death. I am concerned about racial tensions at school. I am disappointed that some racial tensions come from outside the school,” Chiloane said.

“Some community structures and some parents run them. Students have also complained about some teachers. We will investigate and act. Racism is a crime. We will show that it will never be tolerated in our schools. We will send a message to those who want to do the same.”

The MEC added that the school would be insured.

“We are going to look for weapons brought to school. We will monitor that teaching continues without interruption. A lost life is [one] too many. I don’t want to lose another life. This incident should not have happened.

“We share the pain of the bereaved family. Let’s do something about it. Communities must be role models for our students. Gangsterism and substance abuse that occur outside of school [itself] In our instalations. We need the community on board to fight these wrongdoings.”

READ | ‘Racism must end, we want equality’, students’ parents say, but Laerskool Danie Malan denies the claims

Meanwhile, Mphela’s murder resulted in the students taking the law into their own hands.

They attacked the house that they claimed belonged to one of the student’s killers.

The property was damaged before police rescued and arrested the man.

Police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse the angry students.

Three suspects are expected to appear in court on a murder charge.