Deputy principal ‘gangland-style’ shooting was ‘organised’, says expert

Condolences and condemnation continue to pour in after the fatal shooting of Phomolong Secondary School deputy principal Thembisile Ngendane on Friday in Tembisa.

City of Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell said schools were not war zones.

“The senseless killings on school premises must come to an immediate end,” she said. Campbell condemned the senseless murder.

“It is alleged [Ngendane] was gunned down by three unidentified men on Friday,” she said.

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Campbell said the incident followed another tragic shooting last week in Daveyton, where a Grade 10 pupil shot and killed another pupil before taking his own life.

“On behalf of the City of Ekurhuleni, we send our deepest condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and school goers of Phomolong Secondary School,” she said.

Campbell said no-one deserved to be brutally gunned down in such a cruel manner.

Head of the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Limpopo Professor Jaco Barkhuizen said education had never been this dangerous.

“What seems to have happened was professionally done. This wasn’t a crime of passion. The fact that it was well organised, even after she got out of the car and they went and gangland-style executed her shows that this was organised,” he said.

Barkhuizen said it seemed like an organised hit and someone paid the gunmen.

“The motive … might be financial but whoever ordered it, there is surely another motive at play,” he added.

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Barkhuizen said one would have to look around the victim, the school and her job for answers: “It is not normal for a vice principal of a high school to be gunned down,” he said.

According to Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said he was devastated by Ngendane’s death.

“According to information at our disposal, the incident occurred in the afternoon when she was driving out of the school gate. Three gunmen suddenly appeared and allegedly shot her three times through the passenger window,” Lesufi said.

The deputy principal was described as a hard-working and dedicated teacher who was loved by many at the school and in the community.

“We sincerely wish to convey our deepest condolences to the family and the entire school community,” he said.

The motive of the level of cruelty was unknown.

“I’m comforted that this case has been taken over by the provincial police, and as such we are adamant that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

Lesufi will visit the school and the victim’s family today.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za