Pupil’s death mishandled
Public protector says case should be reported to SAPS
Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has urged a criminal investigation into the 2002 death of Thabang M’belle, a youngster who suffered fatal injuries during a rugby match for Potchefstroom Boys High.
In her 58-page report, Mkhwebane lambasted the North West education department for failing to report M’belle’s death to police. An inquest was never opened due to this omission.
A rising star who had worn junior national colours, M’belle suffered a head concussion during a match in Johannesburg. He was airlifted to Milpark Hospital, also in Johannesburg, and succumbed to his critical brain injuries after being in a coma for two days.
M’belle was 18 at the time and in matric. His mother Lumka M’belle, 58, lodged her complaint with the public protector in 2013. She complained about the manner the school and the department handled her son’s death and had tried over the years to get a report into Thabang’s demise.
Mkhwebane concluded that the department committed maladministration by not reporting the death to the police.
“The department’s failure to report the death to the SAPS was improper,” she said.
The department had a duty to report the death to the SAPS because Thabang was a boarder “at its subsidiary [Potchefstroom Boys High] and his death is attributable to the school’s sporting activities”.
Consequences of this failure were that Lumka never got to fully understand how her son died, said Mkhwebane.
“The complainant suffered severe emotional and psychological stress as the result of the loss of her biological son, from 2002 up to date,” Mkhwebane said.
The failure to notify police also meant no postmortem was done on Thabang’s body. His death certificate said the cause of death was inconclusive.
Mkhwebane wrote that the department did not dispute not reporting the matter to the police for an inquest, but maintained that in its view it was a natural death that did not necessitate police involvement.
Mkhwebane said this defence should be rejected based on evidence by Dr KD Boffard, a trauma surgeon who treated Thabang at Milpark.
Boffard submitted that Thabang had been tackled while playing rugby and suffered a head concussion. He said that he arrived at the hospital with “no signs of life or breathing”. His brain was swollen and had no supply of oxygen to it.
Mkhwebane said that the department “must within 30 days of the issue of this report ensure that the death of Thabang M’belle is reported to the SAPS for a criminal investigation”.
Education department spokesman Freddie Sepengsaid they would study the report and decide on how best to implement it. “This is an old case. We’ll do our consultations and investigations.”