Johannesburg – The South Africa Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has condemned the brutal killing of an educator allegedly by a Grade 12 pupil at Kagisanong Combined School in Soutpan, Free State.
Thirty-five-year-old physical science teacher Matefo Mphosela was stabbed at her house at about 9pm on Thursday allegedly by the 21-year-old matric pupil.
The motive for the killing is not yet known.
The union conveyed its condolences to the teachers’ family, her learners, colleagues and the Sadtu family.
Mphosela was the former site leader of Sadtu and the union described her as a distinguished member, saying the country had been robbed of a great teacher.
“The death of the teacher has left Sadtu and the Department of Education poorer.
“The Grade 12 learners and those in other grades she was teaching have been dealt a great blow, especially during this period of preparing for final examinations,” the union said.
Sadtu said the incident had happened at a time when teachers were being celebrated for their sterling work amid the challenges of an unsafe work environment, increasing gender-based violence, bullying and drug abuse by learners.
“All these social ills that find expression in schools have teachers at the helm of having to deal with them on a daily basis. It is during this October month where the learners and the community at large should be celebrating and cheering up teachers as they venture into this challenging task of building a nation.
“Incidents of this nature are contributing negatively to the demand and supply of teachers in the country, where the youth see no need to take teaching as a career,” the union said.
It urged the Department of Education in the Free State to speed up the process of counselling teachers and learners at the school after the tragic loss.
The union called on the justice system to ensure the perpetrator received the punishment that fitted the crime.
Sadtu said it would visit the slain teacher’s family in Botshabelo.
Education
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