School gate locked in comrades’ remembrance
SITEKI – Nkalashane Primary pupils found themselves stranded outside the school gate after they found it locked on Monday morning.
This follows that the youth of Lomahasha, where Nkalashane falls under, had planned various activities in remembrance of two of their own who were killed allegedly by a police officer.
On Monday, police officers from Lomahasha and Siteki dispersed youth members under the Lomahasha community who had planned to erect a signboard with the names of Sifiso ‘Mpostoli’ Masilela and Mxolisi ‘Sigubhu’ Nyoni who were allegedly shot dead by a police officer, Nkosinathi ‘Twenty’ Dlamini on the same day last year during the unrest.
The police officers, after being made aware of the planned activities by the Lomahasha youth through a trending poster on social media platforms on Sunday, deployed themselves in strategic places in a bid to avert any form of gathering around the Lomahasha community.
According to a source close to the matter and a resident at the Nkalashane area, the pupils, at around 7am, found the school gate locked and they waited for their teachers to arrive. The resident said the teachers arrived and the padlock was destroyed, hence the pupils gained entry but police were also called.
The source said the pupils were released early to ensure their safety as the motive behind the locking of the school gate was unknown and the teachers wanted to ensure that the pupils were safe.
“After the gate was opened, the pupils and teachers spent about an hour or two and lessons were suspended in fear of the unknown,” said the resident.
Nkalashane Primary Head teacher Thokozani Matsenjwa requested not to comment on the matter and referred questions to the Lubombo Regional Education Officer (REO) Richard Dlamini.
The REO confirmed having been informed about the matter by the head teacher.
Suspicions
Dlamini said there were suspicions that the Lomahasha youth in commemoration of two of their own, might be the ones behind the locking of the school gate.
“The head teacher called to inform me about the locked gate incident this morning. Yesterday, there was a planned march by the youth and we suspect that the locking of the gate culminated from anger vented by people over the police by dispersing them,” he said.
Worth mentioning is that on July 18 last year, the duo, (Sigubhu and Mpostoli) was allegedly shot dead by a police officer who was based at Lomahasha Police Station during a funeral service held at a Mashaba homestead after a confrontation that took place earlier on the day at a drinking spot.
According to Lomahasha youth leader and People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) Head of International Relations Siboniso Mkhabela, they had erected a street name signboard in honouring Sigubhu and Mpostoli but police officers from Lomahasha and Siteki police stations removed it.
The signboard was erected at the Lomahasha Service Centre along the road leading to both Sigubhu and Mpostoli’s homesteads.
Mkhabela said after the poster for the event started circulation on Sunday, police and soldiers were deployed in strategic positions around the Lomahasha community to guarantee that gatherings of youth members were thwarted.
He said police further stopped them from marching from the Lomahasha Service Centre to the Mashaba homestead where the duo was killed. Mkhabela added that the people of Lomahasha would continue to celebrate the fallen martyrs as it was not easy to forget the death of Sigubhu and Mpostoli and others.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that police engaged the march organisers as it was established that there was no permit granting them to engage in such.
“Police engaged the leaders and they reached common ground and understanding because there was no permit for doing so,” she said.
Burning
Meanwhile, last month, police officers dispersed youth found burning tyres at the Lomahasha Service Centre demanding that July 18 be declared a holiday.
A copy of a poster of the youth’s demands was also shared to this publication. It was established that the youth had placed posters in shops and gates of schools under Lomahasha which police officers pulled down.
In a video shared to this publication, the burning of the tyres by the youth was in demand of justice to be served for the deceased duo.
The youth also demanded that incarcerated Hosea Member of Parliament (MP) Mduduzi ‘Bacede’ Mabuza and his colleague Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube be released.
They also demanded that justice be served for Thabani Nkomonye and others who died during the unrest last year.
Interestingly, the youth also demanded that bottle stores, markets and shops of local residents should continue to operate normally on the day (on Monday) though public transport vehicles should be parked between 10am and 4pm.
“All people of Shewula and Lomahasha must observe the holiday until police arrest those who had a hand in the deaths of people,” read the demands.
Peaceful
Meanwhile, the peaceful march last year of about 100 Lomahasha youth members turned violent when tyres were burnt and stones put on the road leading to the Lomahasha Border Gate after the death of Sigubhu and Mpostoli.
Also, Nkalashane High has been marred with a number of protests since last year following that the pupils resorted to boycott lessons in solidarity of their schoolmate, who was reportedly tortured by the police during one of their protests.
Last month, officers from Lomahasha Police Station fired four gunshots to stop a 19-year-old Form III pupil from fleeing at his home.
Bandzi was one of the pupils who were implicated in the locking of the school’s gate a few months ago.
Bandzi was later released by the police following an impromptu visit by his schoolmates at the station to demand for his discharge.
Worth mentioning is that this was the second incident in a space of a month whereby the pupils locked the gate and demanded answers as to why the head teacher carried a gun to school.
The pupil alleged that a gun was spotted on the head teacher’s waist after he had bent to pick something that had dropped on the ground.