Education MEC to visit family of dead pupil allegedly paralysed by principal

Mpumalanga’s Education MEC Reginah Mhaule on Tuesday will visit the family of 14-year-old, Sphamandla Choma, who died several months after he was allegedly assaulted by his school principal for stealing R150 and left paralysed.

Mhaule’s department is facing a R25 million lawsuit for corporal punishment lodged by the pupil’s family which says he never returned to school after his injury and died on Sunday night at a Middleburg hospital.

The principal was subsequently charged with misconduct and suspended by the department after it received a preliminary report on the matter, and disciplinary hearings are underway against the headmaster.

The department is reportedly planning to conduct a post-mortem to determine the real cause of his death.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Students Movement (PSM) has reportedly vowed to avenge Sphamandla’s death, TimesLIVE reported on Monday.

In a statement, PSM’s national spokesperson Sfaniso Sithole called for the principal to be jailed and condemned an apology by the provincial education department which conveyed its condolences to the family‚ the school and everyone affected by the boy’s passing.

PSM has described Sphamandla’s death as “senseless”.

“If justice fails Sphamandla‚ PSM will physically retaliate and deal with the principal‚” Sithole charged.

The Choma family told the news website two months ago police had failed act by investigating the principal despite opening a case of assault.

“We opened a case with the police on June 12 last year and nothing was done. My nephew’s life has changed dramatically. He cannot move his legs and his spinal cord is paralysed‚” Siphamandla’s uncle‚ Johannes Choma was quoted as saying at the time.

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