Lesufi pays respects to Joburg teachers killed in car crash

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said it had been a roller-coaster month for his department, as he paid respects to the Zwane family in Meyerton on Thursday.

“It has been a roller-coaster month for us as the department. We are devastated. We just felt, let’s come and bow our heads in front of the family and strengthen them, as well as show our support,” Lesufi told the media outside the family’s home.

“Losing three of our educators is not easy, it’s a difficult call – it’s emotionally devastating,” he added.

Tshotsho Zwane, 26, was killed along with two of his colleagues – Nompumelelo Madlala and Ntshosho Zwane – in a car accident on Sunday.

The principal of Riverlea High School, Ashley Harris, noticed on Monday that the three teachers had not reported for work.

City Press reported that when Harris had tried to call them, their phones were off, and when he approached the Orange Farm Police Station, there had been no incidents reported.

The principal later received news that a vehicle involved in a fatal accident matched the description of a vehicle driven by one of the teachers.

Temporary teachers have been placed in the school to assist pupils.

Lesufi said that there would be a period of mourning and that the department was not in a rush to fill the posts.

He is scheduled to also visit the Sibiya family in Kempton Park and the Zwane family in Soweto later today.

The department has not had an easy start to the 2020 academic year, with the death of two pupils in one week.

Parktown Boys’ High School pupil, Enock Mpianzi, was swept away in the Crocodile River while attending a Grade 8 orientation camp at Nyati Bush and River Break lodge near Brits in North West on January 15.

In a separate incident, 13-year-old Keamohetswe Shaun Seboko of Laerskool Bekker was found dead in the school hostel swimming pool.

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