Johannesburg - A six-year-old boy from the Christiana School for the Blind was found dead in his dormitory last Friday.
The boy, who was in Grade R, was blind, had cerebral palsy, could not speak and was also wheelchair bound.
A spokesperson for the North West Department of Education, Freddy Sepeng, said the boy started at the school this month and that no foul play was suspected.
"The housemistress went to check on him last week Friday around 6 am. However, when she went back an hour later she found that he was not breathing.
"She called the police and the doctor who declared him dead. We send condolences to the family," he said.
Although the school is for blind pupils, Sepeng said before admission, an ophthalmologist had examined the boy and found that the school would be suitable for him.
"There were six of them at the school with profound disabilities," he said.
Sepeng said the child, who is from Mahikeng, was born healthy but developed meningitis when he was two hence the multiple disabilities.
"His parents and grandparents used to come to the school all the time, working with teachers in helping them take care of him. We don't know the cause of death yet but we don't suspect foul play," he said.
In 2010 the school was plunged into a scandal when four boys died when their dormitory caught fire.
“The four, all boys aged between eight and nine, died after they inhaled smoke in the room in which they were sleeping.