Durban pupils, 14 and 15, in court over fellow pupil's shooting death
The two Sastri College pupils, aged 14 and 15, who were arrested in connection with the death of a fellow pupil have appeared in court.
The two boys appeared in the juvenile court at the Durban magistrate's court on Monday, where their preliminary inquiry was rolled over to Tuesday. The inquiry is to investigate the facts of the case, how the case must proceed and the criminal capacity of the minors.
Ahead of their appearance, the teens made no eye contact as they sat on public benches outside the court room with their parents. The case was heard in closed court, and media are not allowed to name the pupils because they are minors.
“The two pupils have been suspended... Because they are still minors, the process is not simple and transparent,” Kwazi Mshengu, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for education, told TimesLIVE on Monday.
Fifteen-year-old Moyeni Walter was shot in the vicinity of the school on Thursday and died in hospital on Friday. His family told TimesLIVE on Saturday they believed Moyeni was killed because he refused to give another boy money.
In a statement on Saturday, the school’s governing body offered condolences and counselling to the Walter family.
"We would like to convey our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the learner. We earnestly encourage the Sastri College community to keep his family in prayer during this trying time. Our school counselling department is assisting the bereaved family during this challenging time. School-based trauma counselling intervention is available to the Sastri College community to enable all to cope with this incident,” the SGB said.
KZN education MEC Kwazi Mshengu, says the department is aware of the incident at #SastriCollege where a student was shot, near the school, allegedly by other students. The students are currently in the Durban Mag court facing Murder charges @TimesLIVE pic.twitter.com/pbRDzaxEbV
— Lwandile Bhengu (@Lwandi_N) September 16, 2019
Mshengu said although the incident had not taken place within the school premises, the department still needed to intervene.
“It happened outside the school premises but the fact of the matter is that the confrontation started within the school premises, so as a department we do need to do something in relation to this case,” he said.
The incident comes as the department gears up to launch a school safety week aimed at dealing with escalating levels of violence in schools. The initiative will be launched on Tuesday in Hammarsdale, near Pietermaritzburg.