Beaten by principal, boy took seven months to die

The man who allegedly beat 14-year-old Siphamandla Choma so badly that he broke the boy's spinal cord and damaged his heart was not a gangster or a robber, but a man who was meant to be the boy's role model and protector: his school principal.

The brutal assault seven months ago at a Middelburg primary school turned Siphamandla from a happy, soccer-mad child who constantly made jokes into a depressed boy in a wheelchair who depended on strong painkillers to numb his pain.

Last Sunday, he died.

"I am a Christian but will never forgive that man. I will die hating him," the boy's mother, Christina Choma, said this week about her son's principal, Kgomotso Seteka.

story_article_left1

"It doesn't matter what my son had done, he didn't deserve that kind of a punishment."

Beside her, her husband, Lewi, told how the Grade 4 pupil had been nicknamed "Nyaope" because of his speed on the field, and how he would turn even an apple into a soccer ball, kick it between two dustbins and shout "Goal!".

"It hurts to know I won't see him again. Sometimes I ask God why he didn't take me instead. I will always wonder if he would have been a president, a soccer star or a doctor. I will never know."

Siphamandla was the fourth eldest of Christina and Lewi's seven children.

The Mpumalanga education department has undertaken to contribute to the costs of his funeral. But Christina said it was too little too late.

The principal at the Manyano Primary School in Mhluzi township was suspended last month.

"Even after he had been told of the damage he had done to my child's health, he still treated me like a dog, a nobody because of my poor background."

Seteka did not respond to calls and messages. Christina said that two days after the attack, she had gone to Seteka to tell him how badly he had injured her son .    

He agreed to take Siphamandla to hospital, where he allegedly told nurses the boy had hurt himself while trying to run away from a snake while he was collecting fire wood.

She said doctors found the boy had a severed spinal cord, which had resulted in paralysis, and severe heart damage.

Christina said her son had told her that he and four other boys had been called into the principal's office last August and accused of stealing money from a teacher's bag.

mini_story_image_vright1

When the principal began assaulting them, the boys made a run for it, but the principal tripped Siphamandla, who fell to the floor.

"While still on the floor he slapped and punched him [the little boy], and pushed his knees against his chest," said Christina.

Afterwards, the gravely injured boy hobbled home 2km away, assisted by his two siblings.

The Chomas have laid a complaint of assault with the police and lodged a lawsuit against the provincial education department.

Jasper Zwane, a spokesman for the department, confirmed it had received notice of a lawsuit seeking R25-million in damages. He said the department had suspended Seteka last month.

The principal was also charged with misconduct last Friday after the department had received a preliminary report on the incident.

"A decision was taken to strengthen the investigation so all gaps could be closed and to ensure those suspected should not get an easy way out," he said.

Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi confirmed that an assault case had been opened last year, but that Seteka had not been arrested.

"We have also opened an inquest into Siphamandla's death. A postmortem will be conducted soon and we might add a murder charge if his death is found to have been caused by the injuries [suffered in the attack]."

Siphamandla will be buried on Saturday.