Pupils who saw teacher shot dead ‘unlikely to recover’
Expert urges play therapy, ongoing counselling
The children who witnessed a man shoot and kill his wife at Sediba-Sa-Thuto Primary School in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, are unlikely to recover from the trauma.
Johannesburg Parent and Child Counselling Centre director Claudia Ribeiro said there were possibilities that the pupils suffered “extreme trauma on a number of levels”.
“The children would experience a huge trauma, where someone they love, respect and possibly care for, has been killed in front of them.
“An unthinkable thing has happened [to them] – and it is possibly one of the worst kinds of events that a child could witness – the violent taking away of a life by someone else,” Ribeiro said.
“Trauma is cumulative and therefore this will trigger other events. The children will most likely never forget what happened and will always recall and remember this [incident].”
Kate Chiloane, 30, was gunned down while teaching her Grade 2 class on Monday.
Her husband Vusi Mdluli’s Facebook account revealed that he had been planning the murder and suicide for months.
Mdluli, 40, had been posting spine-chilling posts about murder, death, problems in relationships, a troubled marriage and suicide. After shooting her, Mdluli went home where he shot himself in the head. He died at the scene.
Ribeiro said parents should look out for ongoing signs of trauma such as refusal to go to school, bed-wetting, separation anxiety, high anxiety levels, medical conditions such as sore tummies, headaches, lack of concentration, withdrawal, sadness and tearfulness, inability to stop thinking about the incident, and nightmares.
“These children should have access to play therapy and counselling of an ongoing nature,” Ribeiro said.
She said the children witnessed “a scourge that we are dealing with in our country and in our own homes”.
“Children are vulnerable and should be protected from violence. They were put into a position of being forced to witness the unthinkable act of murder,” Ribeiro said.
“This act alone may result in them experiencing devastating consequences and side-effects that they could possibly live with for the rest of their lives.”
She said the event would “affect the children in a very adverse way, far beyond just the obvious trauma of the event”.
“It will cause them to later question themselves as husbands and wives, their role, their reaction to violence in the home and their views on gender and on women.”
She said the children would need individual trauma debriefing, group support (as they experienced this event collectively) and will also need to support each other.
“Teachers and parents should be available to talk – and allow the children ongoing opportunities to talk – about what happened ...”
Chiloane’s memorial service will be held today at the department of education’s district office.