Lungani Zungu
The 10-year-old left for school a happy child but came back with a fractured elbow.
The grade 4 pupil at Ndlokolo Primary School at KwaNgcolosi west of Durban was allegedly beaten with a wooden plank by her teacher.
Her mother told Scrolla.Africa the incident left her daughter traumatised and all attempts to convince her to go back to school have failed.
“My child is not the same anymore,” said the mother.
“I am now busy searching for a place for her at other schools because she can’t go back there.”
On the day of the incident, at about 8am, the girl got into a fight with a fellow pupil. Both children were then allegedly beaten continuously, until her left arm was fractured.
“I don’t understand why a teacher would hit young children with a plank. I’m sure she doesn’t hit her own children with a plank,” said the mother.
The girl’s family took her to RK Khan hospital where her arm was bandaged.
The mother has opened a case of assault against the teacher.
“If my child was in the wrong, she must be punished but not by beating her with a plank,” she said.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed the incident.
“We can confirm that a 50-year-old suspect was arrested by Hillcrest police for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.”
The teacher appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court last Friday, and the matter was postponed.
Sihle Mlotshwa, spokesperson of the Department of Education, said: “Corporal punishment has led to the expulsion of many educators in the province.”
He said MEC for Education Kwazi Mshengu would deal with the matter.
