THREE pupils were suspended and will soon face a disciplinary hearing.
They allegedly assaulted their teacher at DZJ Mthebule Junior Secondary School at Nkowankowa in Tzaneen, Limpopo.
A video of the incident reached the Limpopo Department of Education.
In the video, taken last Tuesday, the pupils can be seen kicking and hitting the teacher on the school premises, while surrounded by other kids.
A school girl can be heard screaming in Tsonga: “You will kill him, don’t kill a person.”
According to witnesses, one of the three grade 9 pupils was playing with a cellphone during lessons.
When the teacher addressed the issue, another pupil allegedly responded it wasn’t a big deal as they were’t busy.
He allegedly got angry when the teacher tried to take the cellphone.
A pupil said it was sad and scary how other teachers never tried to rescue the assaulted teacher.
Education spokesman Sam Makondo confirmed the suspensions.
He said they wouldn’t allow a situation where teachers were threatened when trying to enforce the rules.
“The school has a clear rule that cellphones are not allowed and you wonder why parents allow their kids to leave home with phones,” he said.
He said they’ll act when pupils break the rules and ensure teachers are protected from hooligans who have no regard for school rules. Makondo said though the department hadn’t set a date for the hearing, it would take place soon.
“The disciplinary dates are the department’s internal processes. We’ll decide how to discipline the kids accordingly.”
