Family seeks answers
2004-06-03 10:15
Pietermaritzburg - The family of a pupil who died after corporal punishment in KwaZulu-Natal visited the high school on Wednesday to find out what had happened.
Thuthuka Zuma, 16, collapsed on Tuesday at the Phezulu High School in Hammersdale outside Durban after receiving "light corporal punishment from the principal for being late. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Mpumalanga Clinic.
A tearful Mbuyiseni Zuma, the teen's brother, told pupils not to use Thuthuka's death as an excuse to skip school.
Zuma, his sister Mafiki and their mother Prisca visited the school in Hammarsdale to find out more about the bizarre incident.
Addressing assembly, Zuma appealed to the pupils attend classes and not take the law into their own hands.
The education department said the principal was suspended with immediate effect and education MEC Ina Cronje ordered a full investigation into the death.
The family said they were waiting for the post-mortem results to find out what caused Thuthuka's death.
"All we know is that he went to school, that someone had hit him, he fell down and now he is gone," Mafiki said.