COPS FIRE SHOTS AT FLEEING NKALASHANE PUPIL

SITEKI – Police officers from Lomahasha Police Station yesterday morning fired four gunshots to stop a 19-year-old Nkalashane High School pupil from fleeing at his home.

*Bandzi was said to have been behind the locking of the school gate a couple of months back. This publication reported in April this year that chaos had erupted at the school when pupils found the school’s gate locked, with graffiti messages written on the concrete wall enjoining the gate, resulting in the suspension of lessons.

Bandzi’s brother, Beki, claimed that police officers came to their home at around 5am. After noticing that the people who were knocking in one of the houses were police, the Form III pupil, bolted out of one of the houses and took to his heels. Bheki alleged that the police had parked the van they were travelling in a few metres away from their homestead. He said after bolting, his brother ran to evade arrest, but the police opened fire to stop him.

He said Bandzi surrendered himself and was taken to the police station. Some of the pupils walked to Lomahasha Police Station to demand the release of their schoolmate.
However, it was established that police officers at the station chased them away. In a recorded audio that had started circulating on social media platforms yesterday afternoon; one of the pupils stated that they had come to the Lomahasha Police Station to see their schoolmate.

The pupil said they wanted to ascertain if he was injured after the fired gunshots, but were chased away by the police. “We want to know why they took him and the reasons for doing that. We also want to see him as his schoolmates if he got injured by the fired bullets (sic),” said the pupil in the audio clip. Bheki said Bandzi stopped running after the police started to fire gunshots at him and he was apprehended and taken to the police station.

Implicated

He said the other four schoolmates who were also implicated in the locking of the school gate ran away and were still at large. “Bandzi is suspected to be behind the locking of the school gate, that happened recently and the police were looking for him with other four schoolmates, who managed to escape when the police visited the school this morning (yesterday),” he said. Lubombo Regional Education Officer (REO) Richard Dlamini confirmed the matter.

Dlamini said the pupils boycotted classes after one of their schoolmates was apprehended by the police. The REO said the pupils vowed not to return to class if their schoolmate was not released by the police. He said a meeting held last Thursday with parents, pupils and teachers, was meant to find a lasting solution to the volatile situation at the school. Dlamini said a report about the meeting was being compiled with the recommendations expected to be furnished to the Ministry of Education and Training.

“The head teacher has reported that pupils boycotted classes in solidarity with one of their own, who was taken by the police in connection with the locking of the school gate. I hope lessons will resume tomorrow (today),” he said. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superitendent Phindile Vilakati said a pupil was detained in connection with the locking of the Nkalashane High School gate and another was still at large.

“The police are still yet to prefer charges against the apprehended pupil and the other who ran away is known and police are in pursuit of him,” she said. Meanwhile, the pupils at the school recently resorted to protesting, demanding the reinstatement of the school’s Deputy Head teacher, Qiniso Lupupa and the release of the incarcerated Members of Parliament (MPs) in Hosea’s Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Ngwempisi’s Mthandeni Dube. Worth mentioning is that this is the second incident in a space of a month, whereby the pupils demanded answers as to why the head teacher carried a gun to the school.

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