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Deputy principal murder: Lesufi warns against spreading false information
Thembisile Ngendane was gunned down outside Phomolong Secondary School in Tembisa on Friday.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi briefs media at Bryanston High School in Johannesburg, 25 May 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi has visited Phomolong Secondary School in Tembisa following the fatal shooting of deputy principal, Thembisile Ngendane.
Ngendane was gunned down outside the school around 2:50pm on Friday.
According to the Gauteng Department of Education, three armed men allegedly shot her three times through the passenger window.
The 50-year-old was allegedly shot two more times by one of the gunmen while she was on the ground after having managed to get out of her car to evade the bullets.
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Speaking at the school on Monday, Lesufi described Ngendane’s death as “painful”, saying he felt numb when he received the bad news on the day of the shooting.
“I just felt numb and I could not even respond to the many messages of support that I received from other MECs for education because they understand the price of losing a deputy principal. That price is too heavy to say we will overcome or we will be okay one day.
“South Africans don’t understand what it takes to prepare a good teacher. They don’t understand what it takes for somebody to end being a deputy principal and they don’t understand the role our educators are playing to nurture our children,” he said.
Lesufi assured the school’s staff that there would be a presence of “one form of security” for protection.
“It can’t be business as usual when a deputy principal [has been] killed and you come here as educators [but] are not sure you are safe. You don’t even know who did this. I know by now they made all our psycho-social support team to be assigned [and] permanently be here until all of you are fine,” he continued.
The MEC also cautioned against the spreading of false information regarding the incident.
“You might be aware that when this incident took place on Friday, those that are heartless… those that don’t understand this sector started to circulate wrong information and that deepens the hurt.
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“It is only the killer that knows the motive. If you are not the killer and you speculate… it means you are part of those who killed our deputy principal.
“I want to urge those that are speculating to stop it. We have no information [so] we must wait for the police to conclude their work. Those behind the killing will tell us why they have done it,” he said.
This is after reports swirled on social media that the suspects in the shooting were pupils that had failed their matric exams.
Lesufi, meanwhile, also confirmed that the police have deployed a task team to apprehend the criminals involved within the next 72 hours.
“I want to send a strong message [to the suspects]… they can run, they can hide, but we will find them,” he added.
The MEC also visited Ngendane’s family to convey his condolences.
The deputy principal’s brother-in-law and family spokesperson, Yolo Ngendane, said the family was in shock over her death.
Yolo said the family is clueless about why the 50-year-old was killed and that they are hoping to get more answers.
Ngendane is survived by her husband, daughter, 23, and son, 18, according to News24.
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