DURBAN - TEACHERS at Welile Moshoeshoe Primary School in Amaoti, Inanda, fear for their lives after they were allegedly robbed at gunpoint by six unknown gunmen outside the school premises on Tuesday.
Grade 3 teacher Busisiwe Ndlovu was still in shock from the incident.
“I’m still shaking. I can’t drive. One of my colleagues had to drive me home. I’m still traumatised. I am even scared of going to school,” Ndlovu said.
She said the robbers took her handbag and emptied her purse, which contained R1600 for a stokvel, before taking her Fossil wristwatch and a Samsung smartphone.
“Six guys stood in the middle of the road as I approached in my car. They faced the direction where I was going. I slowed down after realising that they were not moving from the road. All of a sudden, they turned around and three of the six pointed guns at me,” she said.
“At gunpoint, I was instructed to get out of my car. They took everything. They told me to walk away, and not scream or look back. I was so scared and I thought I was going to die.”
Ndlovu said just thinking about the scene that played out on the road next to the school, terrified her.
“This is the route I use every day. Even though I am lucky to have survived, I still fear for my life. I can’t help but think what if they come back again? What will happen next? The thought of going back to school triggers the memory of the pain, the trauma, the fear I went through during the robbery.”
School principal Jabulani Mfeka said he was driving a few metres behind two teachers when armed men pointed guns at him.
“I could see these were real guns. I fled the scene in the car. I am still traumatised. The robbers were not wearing any balaclavas.”
He said the road was in a bad condition and it crossed the informal settlements.
Another teacher, Nathi Ngcobo, a head of department at the school, said learning could not resume in school due to the trauma, as the incident had happened before 8am.
The school is in ward 53 and is surrounded by informal settlements called Teentown.
Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said it was disturbing that teachers were soft targets for thugs.
“Having a gun pointed at your head is traumatic. We will intervene as the department in terms of a trauma debriefing,” Mahlambi said.
He said this was a societal matter which required the community to co-operate with the police and report the perpetrators.
“We are confident that the police will catch the criminals,” Mahlambi said.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said a case of armed robbery was being investigated by Inanda SAPS.
“The complainant alleged that today (Tuesday) at 7.15am, she was driving her vehicle at Amaoti in Inanda when she noticed a group of men standing on the road. She slowed down hoping the men would move, but they did not. She stopped and the suspects robbed her of cash, a wristwatch, sunglasses and cellphone before fleeing on foot. The matter is still under investigation,” Gwala said.
Daily News