On the January 14, Keamohetswe Seboko, 13, was accompanied to his new home, Laerskool Bekker Primary School hostel in Magaliesburg, by his mother and uncle. He would be found dead at the bottom of the school’s swimming pool 24 hours later.
After the news of his untimely death broke, the Gauteng department of education (GDE) instructed law firm Ndobela Lamola Incorporated to investigate the circumstances.
The report was handed over to the family last week and shows a pupil twice alerted a teacher to seeing the boy’s body in the swimming pool before the educator reacted.
The damning report was handed to the family last week. It was meant to establish whether the Grade 7 pupil accidentally drowned, or was killed and thrown into the pool, and whether this was a result of an initiation gone wrong, negligence or bullying.
“On the 15th of January 2020, Kamo started his first day at his new school. Later that day the male and female learners shared the swimming pool in two separate sessions. It is Bekker’s tradition that the girls would swim first and the boys would swim soon thereafter. However, on this day at or about 2.50pm, the boys swam first under the supervision of Juan Johannes Laing Kotze, an educator at Bekker.
“Further to the above, at or about 3.30pm and just after 40 minutes of swimming in the scorching hot Magaliesburg sun, the boys’ swimming turn came to an end and they evacuated the pool area, making way for the girls. At or about 4.10pm, after the boys finished swimming, the girls went into the pool for their turn of an afternoon dip under the supervision of Linda Jordaan, an educator at Bekker,” said the report.
The pupil [for the second time] told Jordaan that the boy she saw is inside the pool and that she is certain that it is a boy because she saw his face.
— Forensic report into the death of Keamohetswe Seboko
The girl’s swimming session lasted about 25 minutes.
During the swimming session, a girl informed Jordaan there was a boy inside the pool and she responded by looking around but she did not see anything.
The pupils evacuated the pool at about 4.35pm at the instruction of Jordaan, who told them their session had come to an end.
“While Jordaan was escorting the girls back to the hostel for a shower in preparation for dinner, the pupil [for the second time] told Jordaan that the boy she saw is inside the pool and that she is certain that it is a boy because she saw his face.
“Subsequent to the above, Jordaan locked the pool and went to report to Kotze, who was standing not far from the pool with Arie Gerhardus Esterhuizen, an educator at Bekker,” reads the report.
According to the report, the teachers both searched for him in the pool but could not see his body. They subsequently requested a pupil to dive into the pool to check, but he also did not find Seboko’s body.
“Esterhuizen went to his girlfriend’s room, where he had left a pair of shorts. Esterhuizen changed into shorts as he was wearing jeans and thereafter dived into the pool, where he discovered Kamo’s body.
“Further, Esterhuizen attempted to resuscitate Seboko through cardiopulmonary resuscitation and could feel no pulse on his body,” the report established.
The postmortem examination found he died from drowning.
“Mmalei Elijah Tsuaeli, who is a senior forensic at the Roodepoort Forensic Pathology Services Mortuary, received the body of Kamo. In his affidavit, he indicated that he received the body lying on the grass next to the swimming pool. Furthermore, the body had no visible injuries.
“Seboko’s guardian contends that he was an excellent swimmer since the age of four and given his height he could not have drowned.
“But based on the research by Dr Francesco Pia, we find that a possibility exists that a child can drown in a pool and in the midst of other kids, without those around him/her noticing that he/she is drowning.
“Further, based on the postmortem report, we find that the death of Kamo could have been a case of accidental drowning,” said the report.
Matlakala Seboko, grandmother of the deceased, said her family would never forget what happened.
“It’s still early days, we are in pain. It’s not an easy thing to go through. Losing a child is the most painful thing. I got the report last week, but I still don’t have real answers. At this moment I don’t know what we will do,” she said.
Steve Mabona, GDE spokesperson, said the principal, Willy Potgieter, was suspended.
“Due to Covid-19 our investigation was unfortunately delayed. However, we can confirm that the said investigation is complete, and we are finalising arrangements for the MEC to present the report to the family. We will publicly announce the outcome and action to be taken accordingly,” Mabona told Sunday Times Daily.
Seboko, just like Enock Mpianzi, was 13 years old and neither got the full opportunity to be pupils at their respective schools.
Findings:
- In light of the above, Kotze was found to have acted negligently by failing to properly account for all the pupils who were swimming on January 15 2020, and failed to exercise proper care by failing to establish if everyone was out of the pool.
- Jordaan acted negligently by failing to go into the pool after being told twice that there was a boy lying at the bottom of the pool, and acted negligently by leaving the pool area after being told there was someone at the bottom of the pool;
- Esterhuizen, together with Kotze, Liebetrau and Jordaan, were found to have acted negligently by instructing a pupil to go into the pool after they had received a report that there is someone at the bottom of the pool;
- Furthermore, the Gauteng department of education is vicariously liable for the negligent conduct of the teachers and the principal in line with section 60 of the SA Schools Act.
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