Head knock not cause of death

2003-03-26 23:22

Dumisani Zondi

Durban - A postmortem on an eight-year-old Bulwer boy who died allegedly as a result of a teacher butting his head against three other boys', has indicated that he died of meningitis, according to the teacher's lawyer.

Logan Govender, the attorney representing Busisiwe Rosemary Gasela, said a second attempt to have Gasela released on bail on the basis of the new evidence was turned down.

He said he applied for a new bail hearing after getting a report of the postmortem, which was not made available to him by the court.

"I obtained a copy of the postmortem and made a fresh bail application because the report says the boy [S'khmumbuzo Memela] died of meningitis, which is a natural cause. The magistrate refused bail again at the hearing [on Monday]. He said the postmortem report is not admissible," said Govender.

It is alleged that Gasela banged S'khumbuzo's head against three other boys' heads on February 14 as a punishment for making noise in class at Bulwer Primary School. S'khumbuzo died 11 days later. His skull was allegedly fractured.

Magistrate Sydney Kunene initially refused Gasela bail on the grounds that her safety would not be guaranteed outside custody and her release would cause a public outcry.

Prosecutor Marshall Zulu confirmed that the postmortem report was rejected because it was not admissible in court, as Govender did not follow the correct procedure.

"The document did not comply with the conditions and formalities because it was handed in without the other party consenting to it. You can't just hand in documents. We don't even know who provided him with the document," he said.

Govender has filed papers for an urgent appeal hearing at the high court.

- The Witness