A grief-stricken school body at Strand Secondary, learners and staff, gathered on Wednesday 19 August to pay tribute to a Grade 11 learner who had suddenly died on school premises during school hours the day before.

The 17-year-old, identified on the school’s social media simply as “Tapiwa,” apparently died in front of fellow learners. The cause of death could not be confirmed pending an autopsy.

Sergeant Wesley Twigg, provincial police spokesperson, confirmed Strand police have registered an inquest docket for investigation following the death at 12:08 at the school in Onverwacht Road, Strand.

“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation and a post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death,” he said.

Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department, confirmed the learner had died in one of the classrooms. “As soon as the learner collapsed, the school contacted the relevant health authorities for support,” she said.

The school was granted permission to close early to allow its community time to process what had happened, Hammond added. The announcement early dismissal was shared on the school’s Facebook page.

Lillian Albertyn, civilian coordinator of the Strand police’s Victim Empowerment Programme room, attended the memorial service on Wednesday along with fellow volunteers to offer counselling and support to learners and staff traumatised by the suddenness of the death. “The children were broken after what had happened,” she said.

She said both learners and staff described the deceased learner as a quiet and shy boy whom they would miss dearly.

On Facebook, Strand Secondary issued a statement in tribute of the learner: “This is a very difficult and sad time for our school community, especially for the learner’s family, friends, classmates and educators,” it said.

Hammond confirmed counselling and psychosocial support services are being provided to both learners and staff, to assist them in this period of grief.