Cape Town — A report from the Gauteng Department of Education showed that the principal at the Daveyton Skills School did not follow the correct procedures on the day two learners drowned during a discipline camp.
On 15 April 2024, two learners from the school, Siphamandla Peterson (15) and Sibusiso Sibiya (17) went to a discipline camp with a non-profit organisation, Rising Stars. The students lost their lives while swimming unsupervised in the river, EWN reported.
T the report found that the school principal was responsible for all the decisions made regarding the camp, which she did on her own, and did not follow any of the recommended procedures.
“The principal instructed that only the supervisor accompany the learners and supervise them at the camp. There were no educators that were invited or appointed to attend the camp with the learners. There were approximately 19 facilitators from Rising Stars who were on camp with the children. This was not by the educator-learner ratio,” Thembekile Graham told Newzroom Afrika.
“There were no educators that were invited to the camp to supervise the learners. The social worker, being the one person invited from the school, was allegedly in the restroom when she heard the commotion. The Rising Stars facilitators were scattered around the camp, but not the dam, when the incident took place,” she added.
[WATCH] Thembekile Graham presents the findings of a probe into the death of two pupils from the Daveyton Skills School. She says the principal did not obtain approval from the Department of Education, which compromised pupils’ safety.#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/SHoF8jjUrI
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 30, 2024
The Citizen reported that the principal did not require the correct approval from the department, nor did she verify the qualifications and present them to the parents, nor did she inform the parents of the risks associated with the activities at the camp.
“She said she did not know about the regulations. We find this version concerning especially because there were at least two occasions where the department emphasised the importance of complying with the regulations,” Graham added.
According to TimesLIVE, the report also found the nature of activities for the discipline camp involved forcing pupils to perform exercises which could constitute corporal punishment and are prohibited in terms of the South African Schools Act.
Chiloane said the parents of the pupils opened a criminal case.
Gauteng MEC, Matome Chiloane, told Newzroom Afrika that the department was not to blame for the incident as it had provided checklists to ensure the safety of learners on these excursions. He said the principal acted on her own accord.
“It is a thorough checklist that we agreed to. I believe if the school had just followed the checklist, we would not be here.”
“To say we are partly to blame, I think we, as the department have done our part. The principal was supposed to follow the policy, and clearly she did not, so it can’t be that we didn’t do anything about that,” he added.
[WATCH] Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane says the department cannot be blamed for the death of two pupils during a school excursion. He says the Daveyton Skills School principal did not follow proper procedures. pic.twitter.com/5QF7rZ1q5l
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 30, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
