KZN teacher dies while marking matric papers

A 35-year-old teacher died on Tuesday evening while marking matric examinations papers at the Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School marking centre, Maritzburg Sun reports.

According to a police report, Philani Gumede (35) from Ibiva Combined School in Jozini, asked his friend Wiseman Phakathi for a glass of water to take his tablets.

It is alleged that after Gumede consumed the tablets, he started vomiting and collapsed. According to the report, an ambulance was called and he was certified dead at the scene. Gumede had a plastic full of tablets. His relatives have since been notified of his death.

Police took swabs of the fluid that had come through Gumede’s mouth and nose. A case of inquest is being investigated by Alexandra SAPS.

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education media liaison: deputy director, Kwazi Mthethwa, said the department is mourning the sudden death of Gumede, who met his demise at the examination marking centre.

“A teacher who was part of the team marking NSC examination scripts in Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School, UMgungundluvu district, reportedly fell sick and unfortunately died while still waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Originally, the deceased was employed as a teacher at Ibiva High School which falls under the Umkhanyakude district.”

MEC Khethomthandayo Dlungwana said upon hearing the news, the department dispatched senior officials to the marking centre to attend to the situation.

“At this moment, we do not wish to speculate what might have been the cause of his death but we are going to wait for the post mortem results and determine whether there is a need to investigate further or not. While his colleagues are still shocked, marking has not been affected. The Department of Education will make necessary arrangements through its sister, the Department of Social Development in KZN, to ensure that professional therapy is provided to his colleagues who are obviously affected by this sad incident. The Department of Education in KZN wishes to convey warmondolences to the friends and family of the deceased,” said Dlungwana.