Senior prosecutor in Enock Mpianzi case receives inquest docket, to refer for decision

The senior prosecutor in Brits in the North West has received the inquest docket into the death of Parktown Boys’ High School pupil Enock Mpianzi, according to Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane.

The docket was handed over after investigations into Mpianzi’s death were completed, North West police spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh said.

Mjonondwane said the contents of the docket were not known and that the prosecutor was waiting for a forensic report from the Gauteng education department.

The docket will then be referred to the office of the North Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision on whether to prosecute, Mjonondwane said.

Mpianzi, 13, was swept away in the Crocodile River at a Grade 8 orientation camp at Nyati Bush and River Break Lodge near Brits in the North West on 15 January. He was last seen when a makeshift raft he and other boys were on overturned just hours after they arrived at the camp.

One of the findings in the forensic report, commissioned by the education department and compiled by Peter Harris of Harris Nupen Molebatsi Attorneys (HNM), was that the school and lodge were negligent in the way they dealt with pupils at the camp.

Other damning revelations included that an accurate roll call list, which was initially taken on departure at the school, was not available on site. This led to confusion about who was present at the camp when the teenager went missing after the water activity.

Other major findings related to the water levels and the absence of life jackets during the water activity, where the boys experienced difficulty while on the makeshift rafts.

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