Pretoria - No education is worth dying for, said a member of the Mahlangu family whose two daughters, Precious Msiza and Mbali Mahlangu, were buried on Thursday after being poisoned at school.
Their uncle, Klaas Mahlangu, told a packed Winterveld community hall that the family had decided to withdraw their surviving children Ntando, who is in Grade 1,and his nephew Vusimusi, who is in Grade R.
From next term, the boys will be home-schooled. Schools close on Friday and will reopen on October 13.
Mbali, Precious and their friend Sibongile Mahleya died last week after a suspected poisoning at Ema Primary School.
A joint funeral for the girls was held on Thursday. Vusimusi is Mbali’s younger brother.
Mahlangu said he would now be in charge of the boys’ education. “I will be their teacher. It is only basic education and I can manage. Next year, I’ll enrol them in new schools. They will repeat the grades. No education is better than life.”
He could not trust the school, because he believes whoever killed his nieces and their friend Sibongile was a member of the school, he said. He also believes that whoever poisoned the girls, wanted to kill the boys as well.
“Someone caused this. I’m not sure what they were trying to achieve. I ask the community to help with any information, otherwise I am ready to fight alone. I was like a father to them.”
The girls, aged six and eight, used to take care of the boys at school. “How can they go to school without their sisters? It will be too traumatic for them,” he said.
The three girls died after a suspected poisoning at the school. They collapsed and started vomiting after lunch.
The school has a feeding scheme. The girls ate that food, but none of the other children fell ill.
They also ate cakes and juice Sibongile had brought from home. Her relatives ate the same food but did not fall ill.
The two families believe someone at the school deliberately poisoned the girls. A preliminary report found dough in the children’s bodies.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi attended the funeral but did not make a speech.
After the ceremony, he said he had already informed the families that the investigation results would be out in 14 days.
If the Mahlangu family wanted to home-school their children it was allowed, he said. “It is within their powers. We will assist them any way we can.”
Sibongile’s grandmother Lindiwe Mahleya, who baked the cake, said she wanted the truth to be revealed. “I was not her grandmother, I was her mother. My heart is broken. God help us so that the police can find out what kind of food killed these children.”
Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa pleaded for calm. “I ask the three families and the community to allow law enforcement agencies and the Education Department to explain where the problem was.
“We must respect the rule of law. The law enforcement agencies will get to the bottom of this.”
As the three white coffins left Ema Primary School one last time for the cemetery, their classmates formed a guard of honour.
The hearses they were transported in had the girls’ names as number plates.
Ramokgopa said: “There is no worse pain that a parent burying their child especially if they are this young.”
Lindiwe Mahlangu, the mother of Precious, collapsed as the three coffins were lowered into the ground. She was escorted by paramedics as she threw soil on her child’s grave. The post-mortem results are expected next week.
Pretoria News