They still can't believe he's gone. His peers have taken to the streets to call for justice and his family is trying to piece together what happened.
But even when they get answers, it won't bring their child back.
Nhlanhla Tshabalala (16), a learner at Reshogofaditswe Secondary School in Tsakane, Brakpan the East of Joburg died after he was allegedly beaten up by a security guard and a teacher from Tsakane Senior Secondary.
He had allegedly been wielding a gun, which turned out to be fake. Now his family wants someone to take accountability for their child’s death.
He was the firstborn of three children and looked after his siblings while his mother worked the night shift. The family describes him as a sweet boy who was always ready to help.
His neighbours remember him as a humble and respectable boy.
It all started on Monday when his school released pupils early because there was no water. Nhlanhla and a friend went to his girlfriend's school Tsakane Senior Secondary, which is in the neighbouring area.
The family spokesperson Mamokete Mojalefa, who is also Nhlanhla’s aunt, tells Drum that their son died as the result of injuries he sustained when they beat him up, according to the post-mortem.
She says Nhlanhla went to the girlfriend’s school because she had tried to commit suicide and her family asked Nhlanhla’s family if they could allow him to talk to her.
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When he arrived at the girlfriend’s school, while waiting outside the school premises a grade12 learner approached Nhlanhla and told him to leave because he is not welcomed at their school. The boys started having an altercation where a security guard intervened and Nhlanhla’s school bag and phone were taken and kept at the school. He ran away but his friend was kept at school and was told to come back with his parents to fetch his belongings.
“When he got home without his belongings, his father instructed him to go and come back with his school books. On a Tuesday Nhlanhla didn’t go to school but went to his girlfriend’s school to try and retrieve his bag and cellphone. It was lunchtime and he saw the boy he had an altercation again. It was then that he showed the boy the toy gun and tried to scare the boy.
"But the security guard noticed him and started chasing him until he caught him. They took the gun and saw that it was a toy gun, but they dragged him inside the schoolyard and started to beat him up. And the girlfriend was instructed to go to class, so she didn’t see what happened.”
The aunt says at first the school denied allegations that he was beaten up at the premises until a video surfaced. After Nhlanhla was allegedly beaten, the school called the police, and the police took him home. He was limping and only had a scratch under the eye.
“He didn’t look like he was badly beaten; the police told his mother that they picked him up at the other school and told Nhlanhla to relate to his parent what happened. He told them that he went to pick up his books and cellphone that were taken the previous day.
"He came back home around noon, and at 5pm he started getting sick, he was shivering and started bleeding from his mouth and nose. His post-mortem says he died from the head injuries,” his aunt says.
Mamokete says this is a lot for the family and the mother is very distraught after losing her firstborn and nobody wants to take responsibility for what they did to him.
“The school even denied that there was an incident that took place it was only after the video surfaced that we saw that he was brutally beaten. And they made an excuse about the toy gun, but it was already in their possession and they saw that it was a toy. There was no need for them to beat him up like that, they could’ve called both the parents and the police if they wanted to discipline a child.”
She says they have since found out that Nhlanhla’s phone was taken by one of the workers from Tsakane Senior Secondary, who sold it for R40.
“We want someone to take accountability for what happened to Nhlanhla it is painful to lose a young child in the hand of others. We demand answers and justice for our child,” she says.
Schools around Tsakane were closed for a couple of days following the incident as pupils demanded answers. Gauteng MEC Panyaza Lesufi went to visit both schools this week and assured the pupil that the department will deal with the matter.
He said an independent law firm has been appointed to find out whether the groundsman and teacher had any part in Nhlanhla's death.
"“The appointment of the independent law firm will give us a preliminary report to share with the family and the school. I want to prioritise the family because they want answers,” Lesufi told the Tshabalala family, according to the Sowetan.
Nhlanhla will be laid to rest on Saturday.
