Damning report on drowning
Six teachers, principal, camp and GDE all found negligent in Parktown Boys’ High learner Enock’s tragic death
THE drowning of 13-year-old learner Enock Mpianzi during an overnight trip to Nyati Bush and Riverbreak has led to calls for more stringent safety measures to be taken by schools when planning excursions.
A damning report, compiled by Harris Nupen Molebatsi (HNM) attorneys into his death, found that Parktown Boys’ High School, its principal, six teachers and the Education Department were all negligent in the teenager’s death.
Mpianzi drowned during an activity in the river at Nyati on the first day of school during a Grade 8 school camp.
The attorneys recommended that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) take action to regulate the facilities that offer services to schools for camps and other tours. It said that a facility such as Nyati should be known to the GDE or another regulatory body, and ought to have jurisdiction to enforce a minimum standard of safety measures at such facilities.
“The safety regulations enacted in terms of South African Schools Act must be amended to ensure that there are more prescriptive controls in terms of the supervision of learners and the safety measures in place in relation to participation in any kind of water activity in order to eliminate the possibility of such a tragedy ever taking place again,” the report read.
According to HNM, the extent of the investigation was curtailed by time constraints, mostly due to the team not being able to speak to as many learners as they would have liked to.
“Notwithstanding this, a clear picture of what transpired on the afternoon of January 15, emerges from the version of the learners interviewed,” the report read.
HNM found the (GDE) to be negligent in the issue of whether it granted authorisation for the Nyati camp in January. It recommended that those responsible for the failure to adequately consider the application of the school be subjected to disciplinary proceedings. It also recommended that GDE conducted a thorough investigation into the other four deaths of learners at Nyati to ensure that the interests of justice were served, and to bring closure for the families of the deceased.
After a number of interviews conducted with teachers, learners and staff at Nyati, HNM found that the search for Mpianzi only commenced about 18 hours after it should have commenced.
The law firm found that the lack of a clear roll call before and after the water activity was of critical importance, but the roll call list was erroneously left behind in a vehicle that had already returned to Joburg.
If headmaster Malcolm Williams used the correct roll call list after the water activity, it would have been clear that Mpianzi was missing and the search process and emergency procedures could have been immediately activated.
Another roll call list had to be obtained from the school. But it sent a list of all incoming Grade 8 learners and not just of attendees at the Nyati Camp a day later. Using this roll call list, it was found that 11 learners were missing. However, it was assumed that all 11 were not on the excursion.
It was left to the enrolment office of the school to phone around to parents of the missing 11, which eventually confirmed after speaking to Mpianzi’s parents that he was an attendee at the camp.
“It was only then, at approximately midday of the day following the water exercise, on Thursday, January 16, that searches and emergency procedures were activated…”
It was found that teacher Alex Meintjes was negligent, if not reckless and ultimately, Williams, for not ensuring a proper list of all learners who were on the camp.
HNM said that on discovering the roll call list was in Joburg, a headcount of all learners who disembarked from the buses at Nyati should have been conducted, and this exercise should have been repeated at regular intervals to ensure that all were present at all times.
It also found that when the learners were divided into 15 groups at the commencement of the stretcher exercise and subsequent water exercise, the names of learners in each group should have been recorded, so that after each exercise, and particularly the water exercise, a roll call of each group could be held, in addition to the roll call of the entire group.
“It is simply not acceptable for a camp to accept busloads of children not knowing who they are and then involving those learners in potentially hazardous exercises, including a water exercise involving rafting down a river with strong currents… it is found that Nyati in not ensuring that these actions and procedures took place was negligent and reckless,” the report read.
Based on the evidence given by interviewees, it was confirmed that the learners were instructed to enter the river.
The report found that there were “clearly insufficient controls” to ensure the safety and care of the learners.
It found that Nyati had no adequate safety precautions and the facilitators deployed were too few. At least one facilitator could not swim, which, in conjunction with the fact that no life jackets were issued to the pupils, constituted reckless conduct on the part of Nyati, the report stated.
“We find that there were insufficient safety, care and control measures in place to ensure that no pupil would come to harm in any way. As such, we find that the conduct of Nyati was negligent and reckless.
“In relation to the school educators who were there to see to the safety of the learners and their well-being, it is found that not being present at the commencement of the water exercise manifested negligence in the performance of their duties.
“In addition, by not stopping the water exercise when it was clear that there were inadequate controls and safety measures, including a lack of facilitators at the river to ensure the safety, care and control of the learners, and no life jackets, it is found that they were negligent.”
MThe report found the school to be negligent if not reckless in allowing the water exercise to go ahead when teachers knew from the agenda that the activity would end with a river swim.
The school governing body was found to be responsible in relation to the camp taking place without the requisite authorisation.
The report also found that Anton Knoetze, manager of Nyati, had lied to the HNM investigation team about the route that the water exercise followed “in order to present a picture of a water exercise that was much safer than it actually was”.
“Furthermore, we find that Mr Knoetze lied in relation to the facilitators being placed between the shallow water and the deep water of the river. He also lied when he said no learner in the river went beyond a point…” the report stated.
HNM said it was not persuaded that the involvement of the facilitators discharged the educators of their roles and responsibilities and so a degree of liability rested with them. HNM recommended that in terms of the Employment of Educator’s Act, that the teachers should be subject to disciplinary hearings.
The report stated that the teachers from the school who were at the river and observed the water exercise failed to ensure that there were adequate safety and control measures to ensure the safety of the learners in their care and found them guilty of negligent conduct.
It also recommended that, in the circumstances, the SGB should be the subject of sanction, the details of which would be left to the department.
HNM also recommended that Nyati should be held responsible, and liable, for its negligent and reckless actions that contributed to the circumstances that led to the death of Mpianzi.
“Given what has taken place at Nyati Camp, including four previous deaths, and the fifth death of Enock Mpianzi, we find his misrepresentation and presentation of false evidence to be scandalous and offensive,” the report read.