Johannesburg - Chaos was the order of the day in the community of Soshanguve, Tshwane, yesterday as pupils from various schools and residents demanded the speedy arrest of the suspect behind the rape and murder of a 17-year-old matric pupil from Ntsako Secondary School.
Scores of pupils from at least three schools from around Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, under the leadership of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), converged at Ntsako Secondary School, where Palesa Malatji was a pupil, to demand intervention after her sexually assaulted body was found in a veld near another school.
Palesa allegedly left school on Thursday afternoon after attending extra classes and walked home. However, she did not arrive there.
Her uncle, Thabiso Malatji, said that just after 8pm, he became worried about his niece, as she never arrived late from her extra classes at the school, just over 3km from her home.
As she normally arrived home no later than 5.30pm, he said the family started searching for her “around the community” along the route she usually took to get home, and attempted to get assistance from the local police.
“I went to the police to ask them to send a van to help us look for her, but they turned us away and said there were no cars available. I then took my car and drove to the school, the clinics and everywhere I could think of.
“She wasn’t a person who liked being in the streets. She was a simple girl. We knew she would usually be studying somewhere when she wasn’t at home, so as soon as it got late, we started searching for her immediately.’’
Malatji said a boy from the area told the family he heard a scream coming from where the body was found. However, they did not immediately rush there as it was not her regular route.
“I can’t express it with words, but I have not been able to sleep since this happened. Every day, I go to where she was found, just to analyse what happened. It’s painful, and my sister is battling to come to terms with this,’’ he said.
Deputy regional spokesperson of Cosas, Boipelo Moleko, said the organisation had raised red flags with the department and the police regarding the challenges faced by schools in the community, from teachers sleeping with learners to teachers not being in class during contact time, resulting in the need for extra classes after school.
“If teachers were doing what they were supposed to be doing during the eight hours of school time, there would not be a need for extra classes after hours. You can’t say a learner must come to school from 6.45am to 7pm in this area.
“Police need to patrol these schools during and after school hours, because if there were visible police patrolling, it would be difficult for perpetrators to attack learners this easily. It’s winter now, and by 5pm it’s very dark. So we need to move to online classes to avoid a situation like this,’’ said Moleko.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said the pupil’s death showed that the department, and society as a whole, had to do more to protect children, as the perpetrators were “heartless and emboldened” in their acts.
Chiloane said he had urged the police to crack the case as soon as possible, and the matter had received support at a provincial level.
“Palesa was not just a number; she was the future of this country and one of the few learners who was a high-performer, who could have been a doctor or scientist. It’s a big loss for us as a department.’’
The Education MEC said he had instructed the team dealing with security to ensure transport was provided for matric pupils attending extra classes after school.
In addition to that, he said wardens would be present after school to ensure learners made their way home safely.
The Star