Procincial Secretary of the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union (SADTU), Malibongwe Ntame, confirmed that they were still waiting for police officers to ensure that culprits suspected of murdering teachers in Lusikisiki are arrested.
According to him, two principals and a teacher had been gunned down in different incidents in Lusikisiki this year alone.
He said that the principal from Siwali Senior Secondary School in Lusikisiki, Oscar Mnyandu, was gunned down in February.
In another incident the principal of Buhlanyanga Senior Secondary School, also in Lusikisiki, Richman Hlubi Ntintili (54), went missing while on his way to school and his body was found near Mtsila River in Lusikisiki, on September 30.
His vehicle was also found abandoned in Flagstaff.
“The third teacher, from Sobaba Senior Secondary School also in Lusikisiki, Yonela Mahlangulu (34), went missing while she was on her way to school on November 10, 2023.
“Her body was also found dumped near the river at Mtsila locality in Lusikisiki, and her vehicle was dumped at Bukuveni locality in Flagstaff.
“You can conclude that the last two incidents were made by the same people. This means that our members are not safe at all, and are not protected. We appeal to community members to assist with information so that the culprits can be arrested,” said Ntame.
He added that as SADTU members they adopted a campaign titled “I am a school fan”.
According to him, this campaign has four pillars which states that as SADTU members they must teach learners of the poor, they care for the learner they are teaching, they protect those learners, and they denounce violence.
He said that is why they appeal to congregations, businesses, traditional leaders and community members to support them.
Spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, Mali Mtima, said that they are working with the police to ensure that the suspects are arrested. He said that they are also calling the community to report any of those suspects to the nearest police station, so that they should be nabbed and the law can take its course.
“Every district has a directorate that is dedicated to ensuring cases of this nature are followed, and we work with the family.
“We condemn these barbaric incidents of killing our educators; we call upon the law enforcement agency to work hard and nab these culprits. They are delaying the development of our communities.
“We are saying to everyone, including our educators, we are calling them together with our social partners to work with the police and the department to ensure that any suspicious elements that are alien to the department are reported so that police can act swiftly,” said Mtima.
He said that they call upon all their stakeholders to work with them because the protection of education is the protection of the development.
Police spokesperson, Captain Welile Matyolo, said that the principal of Siwali Senior Secondary School in Lusikisiki, Oscar Mnyandu, was from Dutywa and was gunned down in March this year.
He said that rumours are that there was a fight over senior post/s. Matyolo confirmed that no-one has been arrested so far.
He added that the investigators are busy on the two murder cases which happened recently – the murder of principal, Hlubi Ntintili from Buhlanyanga Senior Secondary School, and the teacher, Yonela Mahlungulu from Sobaba Senior Secondary School.
“As you can understand the modus operandi is the same, which means the cracking, or solving, of the first one might lead to the solving of others,” said Matyolo.
