Teachers were negligent in drowning of Magalies boy, probe reveals

According to a report released by the Gauteng education department on Friday morning, teachers at Laerskool Bekker in Magaliesburg were negligent and that lead to one of the children in their care drowning on the same day as Parktown Boys High School’s Enock Mpianzi at the beginning of the year.

Keamohetswe Shaun Seboko, in Grade 7, was due to go to high school next year, if a mysterious drowning not robbed 30-year-old Lucia Seboko of her eldest son in January.

Seboko’s grandmother Eugenia reflected on this on Friday morning, as she gave her response to the report on an investigation into the incident.

“It’s unfortunate that what has happened has happened, and so the pain will just remain,” the soft-spoken woman said in Sesotho.

On Friday, education MEC Panyaza Lesufi paid a visit to the family’s Eldorado Park home, where the report was presented. The report found that at least one teacher was directly responsible, and along with the school and the department, was guilty of negligence.

He says the firm commissioned to investigate the drowning recommended that the department charge the principal and the responsible teachers.

“Lastly, their findings felt that because they found that the school is liable, by extension, the department is liable and therefore the department must enter into discussions with the family to find a way of settling the matter with the family,” Lesufi told the media.

The report contained a finding that, based on evidence received, the boy drowned and no foul play was involved.

But Keamohetswe’s grandmother said while she appreciated that the report was finally released to them, her heart could not settle, because, she suspects, something more sinister than a simple drowning occurred at Laerskool Bekker on that fateful afternoon.

“We don’t have closure, because in the report it says according to the post-mortem, Keamo was found naked and he was found in the water. So if it was drowning, drowning doesn’t strip your clothes. So these are the questions that we want answers to.”

According to accounts given in the report, Grade 7 pupils were due to swim as per schedule that afternoon – first the boys and then the girls.

A girl pupil was said to have found Keamohetswe’s body in the pool between classes, where it was alleged that no teacher was present for the duration of the boy’s turn in the pool. The girl is said to have alerted teachers after encountering the body at the pool.

It was understood that the girl was initially ignored when she said she found “something” in the pool, but after several tries, the teacher obliged and the body was finally discovered.

According to the boy’s mother, her son was an avid swimmer since the age of 5.

“I even used to reside at a place with a massive pool. My aunt, Adv Tiny Seboko, has a pool at her house. We used to go on holidays and we’d swim in the ocean. So, he could swim well.”

Lesufi said that the report was released to them in March, but they could not address the issue with the family for months because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The family did not indicate whether it was considering taking any legal action.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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