Progressive Students Movement vows to avenge Sphamandla's death

The Progressive Students Movement (PSM) has vowed to avenge Sphamandla Choma‚ 14‚ who died several months after an alleged assault by his school principal left him paralysed.

The group issued a statement on Monday afternoon calling for the principal‚ who is currently under suspension to be jailed.

"We also condemn the apology of the department but call for the imprisonment of the headmaster‚" PSM national spokesperson Sfaniso Sithole said.

"If justice fails Sphamandla‚ PSM will physically retaliate and deal with the principal‚" the group said.

They described Choma's death as "senseless".

Choma was allegedly assaulted by the principal following accusations that he had stolen R150 from his teacher's bag.

The Mpumalanga pupil never returned to school after his injury and died on Sunday night at a Middleburg hospital. "At the moment‚ we are planning to conduct a post-mortem that will help us determine the real cause of death‚" said Mpumalanga department of health spokesperson Dumisane Malamule.

This would include clarifying whether‚ "the paralysis condition is the cause of death or if there is anything else that caused the death".

Two months ago‚ Siphamandla’s uncle‚ Johannes Choma told TimesLive that the life of his nephew had never been the same since the incident at the school.

"We opened a case with the police on June 12 last year and nothing was done. My nephew's life has changed dramatically. He cannot move his legs and his spinal cord is paralysed‚" Choma said at the time.

• Pupil paralysed after 'assault' by principal diesSphamandla Choma‚ the 14-year-old boy who was left paralysed after he was allegedly assaulted by his school principal in Middelburg‚ Mpumalanga‚ has died. 

"The principal treated us with disregard‚ because after he took the boy to hospital he left him there and never came back to us to tell us what had happened.

"We had to go and check on the boy after the principal abandoned him there."

The Mpumalanga department of Education conveyed its condolences to the family‚ the school and everyone affected by the boy's passing.

The MEC for Education‚ Reginah Mhaule will visit the family on Tuesday.

A month ago the Mpumalanga Education department was slapped with a R25 million lawsuit for corporal punishment by the boy’s family.

The principal has been charged with misconduct and disciplinary hearings are underway for this offence.

- TMG Digital