SIYABONGA SITHOLE
The Ndlovu family says it is racing against time to arrange a proper send-off for their 7-year old daughter, Sinikizwe Ndlovu who died on Monday after spending more than a month in the intensive care unit at Leratong Hospital on the West Rand.
The Grade 2 learner at Hector Peterson Primary School in Dobsonville, was run over by a school transport driver on May 7.
While the Ndlovu family tries to raise enough money to bury Sinikizwe, the Gauteng Department of Education has failed to return media inquiries on whether they had taken any steps to help the family.
Gauteng Education Department spokesperson, Steve Mabona, did not answer calls and failed to respond to emails and Whatsapp messages sent to him, following calls for help from the family, while an official identified as Ms Moweni, referred our queries to the office of the spokesperson.
The family say they do not have the funds to organise a proper send off for their child as attempts to get help from the department failed to yield positive results, while help from the school principal, Mr Bonyongo, might not materialise as the school says it does not have the funds.
Speaking to this newspaper, the principal said he is currently in meetings with the department and the school governing body to see what they can do.
“I have been meeting with the SGB and we went to visit the family yesterday to see what we can do to help them. I will be meeting the department to see what they will help us with as we try to assist the family with funeral arrangements,” Bonyongo said.
However, the family say they do not have any hope as the principal and the SGB told the family on Tuesday that the school does not have the funds.
“We are still not sure what is going to happen as the principal told us the school does not have the funds to help us with the funeral. The principal and SGB told us so on Tuesday when they came to meet us. We really do not have a plan as we did not have a funeral cover for her. If we fall to get help, we might have to postpone the funeral to next week,” Senamile Ndlovu said.
Sinikizwe was last month run over by a scholar transport vehicle on the premises of her school, and spent over month at Leratong Hospital, after having suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung.
At the time of her passing, Sinikizwe was unable to eat, breathe and speak on her ow and had undergone more than five surgical procedures.
It is reported that the 7-year-old was inside the school premises on May 17, playing with her school friends, while waiting for their transport to fetch them.
A driver of one of the scholar transport vehicles, who is said to have been playing loud music in his car, while on a cellphone knocked the child over, dragging her more than five metres before stopping. The child spent more than a month in ICU.
The department of education official (Ms Moweni) referred this newspaper back to the department’s spokesperson, adding that she was not in a position to answer our questions. Mabona later asked us to furnish him with contact details of the family.