Grade 12 girl’s naked body found
Pupils leave school to mourn
LESSONS were disrupted at Ziphathele High School at KwaDabeka, Clermont, outside Durban, yesterday after the discovery of the body of a 17-yearold female pupil who had been missing since Saturday.
The naked body of grade 12 pupil Nonhlanhla Gumbi was found in bush in the area on Monday afternoon.
Pupils were given news of her death during yesterday’s morning assembly.
It later proved impossible for classes to continue as pupils were overwhelmed with grief and fear for their lives, forcing the school to close for the day.
When the Daily News arrived at the school yesterday, pupils on their way home expressed despair over the loss of an intelligent fellow pupil whom they admired.
They described Nonhlanhla as “happy and humble” with a bubbly personality.
However, aside from grieving for her, many pupils also spoke of fears they had for their own lives, saying there were whoonga addicts “at every street corner”.
“As girls we are not safe in our own homes and on our own streets when walking to school and home from school. We are not even safe being sent for errands at home. What happened to her (Nonhlanhla) could happen to any of us,” said one of the pupils.
The grade 12s, however, remained for a while at school and held a short service.
Their hymns could be heard through the corridors of one of the township’s oldest schools.
Like the pupils, teachers were overwhelmed by the tragic news and referred enquiries to the Education Department.
Nonhlanhla was the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) secretary at Ziphathele, and Cosas members from other branches arrived at the school to offer their condolences.
Cosas provincial spokesperson Buyanda Gama said they were tired of criminals targeting women and children.
He said they had given the police 14 days to make arrests and crack down on criminals in Clermont.
“We want the police to conduct 24-hour patrols and arrest the criminals.
“We are not going to allow criminals to take away the lives of our sisters. If it means we have to close down all the schools in the province, we will do so, because these girls who are killed like animals have a bright future and should be protected,” said Gama.
Nonhlanhla’s relative, Sfundo Ndlovu, said the family was shattered.
He said he was alerted to the discovery of her body by other pupils on Monday afternoon just before he began teaching extra classes at the school.
“I still cannot believe what I saw. She lay there lifeless and naked. All she had on was her cut underwear. She had bruises on her thighs. I took off my scarf and placed it on her to cover her private parts.”
Ndlovu said Nonhlanhla had had one wish: to perform exceptionally well in mathematics so she could qualify to study towards a degree in astronomy.
“Her plan was to achieve excellent results and possibly get a sponsor for her studies. She was confident that she would do well in physical science and wanted to focus on securing excellent results in maths,” said Ndlovu.
He said Nonhlanhla was a dedicated pupil who did not only want to achieve good results for herself, but also for her school.
“She was not into simple things, and we nicknamed her ‘drama queen’. Just last week she came with a picture of the galaxy and told us that she wanted to study something out of the ordinary,” said Ndlovu.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said a body with bruises on the stomach and thighs was found at KwaDabeka on Monday.
Police were investigating a case of murder.
“The motive for the killing is not yet known. A post-mortem will determine the cause of death,” said Mbhele.