Johannesburg - The Grade 6 pupil who was shot dead outside her school on Wednesday afternoon was struck by a stray bullet amid a taxi war in Katlehong, the Department of Education and the police said.
The incident happened outside the Izibuko Primary School in Katlehong at about 3pm on Wednesday afternoon.
The pupil, Rethabile Raphuleng, 12, was a Grade 6 pupil at the neighbouring Mogobeng Primary School and had been to Izibuko Primary School to meet her friend.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited the school on Thursday as part of a fact finding mission.
Gauteng Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the shooting was as a result of a taxi rivalry among associations.
“According to the information at our disposal, the Mogobeng Primary School learner left her school premises on Wednesday afternoon, 18 September 2019, to meet with her friend at Izibuko Primary School.
“The deceased was unfortunately caught in the crossfire between taxi association rivals, which resulted in the fatal shooting of a man who had come to collect his two grandchildren in Grade R at Izibuko Primary School who were returning from a school trip,” he said.
The young pupil was also shot and was rushed to hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on Thursday morning.
“On behalf of the entire education fraternity in Gauteng, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased learner and the grandfather of the Grade R learners.
“May they find comfort in knowing that we too share their loss. Furthermore, we strongly condemn such violent acts which threaten the safety of our learners, in and around our schooling environment,” said Lesufi.
The department said it had dispatched it's psycho social unit to offer support and counselling to the affected families and schools.
Meanwhile, police on Thursday said the suspects were still at large and they had launched a manhunt for the group.