Matric failures commit suicide
Failed matriculants in shock suicide
The family of one of two Mpumalanga matriculants who committed suicide after discovering their results, has expressed shock and disbelief over his death.
Simphiwe Cyril Magagula, 19, allegedly killed himself on Friday morning after he found out that he had failed. He was the second pupil in the province to kill himself, allegedly over failing matric.
Another pupil, Mabheleni Eugene Gwebu, 18, of Waterval Boven near Belfast, also apparently took his own life because he had passed with lower marks than he had expected.
Magagula of Njeyeza Secondary School in Schoemansdal near Malalane, allegedly hanged himself with an electric cord after getting an SMS notification that he had failed.
His brother, Senzo Sitiba, said Magagula had not shown any signs of being suicidal when they last spoke on the phone.
“Its very sad and shocking what has happened to our family,” said Sitiba. “My mother cannot deal with the shock.
“I was working night shift when my brother called me at about 6am on Friday, saying he thinks he failed as his SMS had told him so.
“I then told him it seemed so because I did not see his name in the paper. I comforted him and said he could rewrite what he had failed along two subjects he did not take in his exam.”
Sitiba said after the call Magagula told his mother of his results and went in the house saying he wanted to rest.
“He told mom, who was removing weeds from our backyard garden, that he wanted to rest. Surprisingly, he locked himself in the house and the rest is history because we found him dead,” said Sitiba.
Magagula had left out maths and physical science in his exams, saying he would write them this year. “When we spoke we agreed he would add what he failed to the 2018 exam year,” said Sitiba.
Spokesman for the Mpumalanga department of education Jasper Zwane said the department was also shocked by the deaths of the pupils. He cautioned parents not put pressure on their children as there were many ways to rewrite exams and still achieve their dreams.
Zwane said they planned to visit the families and also offer counseling to those affected.
Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said in both incidents police had opened inquest dockets for investigation.