THE funeral went over the set time as speakers were lamenting over the deaths of the two Daveyton Skills School pupils.
The pupils drowned last Monday, 15 April, at Hennops River during a school camp in Centurion, Tshwane.
They were part of the 90 pupils who went to a discipline camp on 12 April.
The pupils supposed to return on 16 April.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane, who attended the funeral at Rabasotho Community Centre in Thembisa, Ekurhuleni on Wednesday, 24 April, said one teacher has already been suspended.
"We want to send strong messages, and as a department, we learnt a hard lesson from this. There's no such thing as a disciplinary camp. Kids are at schools to learn.
"We are changing things around. When it happens for the second time, we are not going to say a thing. Children are sent to school for us to develop and protect them. We can't be burying our children," he said.
Body of Siphamandla Peterson arriving at Rabasotho Community centre in Thembisa. Video by Ntebatse Masipa
— Ntebatse Masipa (@ntebatse_SNL24) April 24, 2024
#dailysun#snl24#daveytonskillsschool pic.twitter.com/LitFENI7ek
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The MEC said a law firm appointed by the department will visit affected families soon to brief them on the ongoing investigations.
"Teachers know what is required of them, but they chose not to follow the protocol."
Chiloane said the camp where the two pupils died was not approved by the department.
Meanwhile, the families of the drowned boys said they want answers.
"Siphamandla and Sibusiso and other pupils were subjected to terrible treatment at the camp. We went to perform rituals to lift their spirits, and the smell was unbearable. It was like sewerage. We don't know how our children were coping with that smell," said Siphamandla's gogo, Elsie Peterson.
Their fellow pupils cried uncontrollably as they came to pay their last respects to their beloved classmates.
The two pupils were laid to rest at Mooifontein Cemetery in Thembisa.
