A pool of dried blood amid scattered toys, crayons and children’s artwork in a classroom painted a picture of the tragedy that unfolded at Little Ashford ECD Centre in Bedfordview, where two-year-old Kganya Mokhele was crushed by a bookshelf that fell on him.
The little boy, who was just month shy of his third birthday, sustained injuries so bad he died.
On Wednesday, a day after the tragedy, members of his family and the department of education visited the school.
The family was greeted by the harrowing image of Kganya’s two white sneakers lying next to the pool of his blood.
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Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane was moved by the sight.
He put a hand on his head as he stood in the doorway of the classroom where the incident unfolded. Chiloane said they would be instituting their own investigations into the facility’s safety compliance.
Kganya’s grandfather Sipho Radebe said the family was still traumatised.
While they were told Kganya was injured at the school but died in hospital, Radebe said what they saw at the classroom led them to believe otherwise.
“When we saw the blood we were convinced that child died here [at the centre],” Radebe told TimesLIVE Premium.
“He did not die in hospital as they claim. It was a pool [of blood] and when we came here it was still wet. One of the teachers slipped on that blood and fell,” he said.
Radebe said the injuries suffered by his grandson were terrible.
“I saw the gash on the right side of his head. That thing just hit him ... It was traumatic,” he said.
Kganya’s mother was battling to come to terms with the tragedy.
“She only came this morning and was hysterical. We came here as a family to come and wipe clean his blood, but they cannot take it, so we asked them [the school] to clean it,” he said.
Radebe has accused the school of a cover-up and being negligent.
“We saw the footage. Horrible. This could have been prevented. I would be surprised if the report comes out and says they were not negligent. Of course there were teachers in that room. We saw them on the footage, but they were doing this,” he said, gesturing that they were focused on their phones.
“All four of them,” he added.
Radebe said the footage showed how moments before the incident, the children ran around the classroom playfully.
He has also accused the school of poor communication after the incident happened.
However, the school’s CEO Cedric Ntumba said some of the delays were purely out of protocol and procedure.
Ntumba said they would be providing the necessary counselling.
The director of early childhood development said they were restricted by the school from examining the rooms where the incident happened.
Little Ashford senior principal Natasha Luke said the death was tragic and unfortunate.
“What transpired yesterday morning was a little boy playing in the classroom. He tried to reach for a toy. I presume that he wanted it off the shelf. He then proceeded to grab on the shelf, and unfortunately the shelf gave into the weight and fell on top of him,” she said.
The father of little Kganya, Ntaote Mokhele, said he received a call from the school at 10.36am.
An emotional Ntaote tried hard to fight back tears as Ntumba spoke.
Ntumba said they would leave no stone unturned and would ensure they participate in the investigations.
“And we will be accountable for the incident that has happened,” he said.
Kganya’s uncle, Solly Mokhele, said his nephew was a free-spirited boy.
He said they shared a special bond.
“I was really shattered because he was everything to us,” he said. Solly said both parents were struggling to come to terms with what happened, adding Kganya’s father was broken.
“The dad had an early meeting yesterday and did not get the opportunity to say goodbye before Kganya came to school, so you can understand how messed up he is right now,” Solly said.
“We thought it was a cover-up, but now we saw the footage, we can just see the negligence. One could just see the bookshelf was not supposed to be there,” he said.
Recalling how he heard the news of Kganya’s death, he said his brother — Kganya’s father — called him at about 10.59 screaming.
“He said the school has killed my child,” Solly said.
The centre will be closed for the rest of the week and would consider reopening next week.
Kganya is to be buried this weekend.
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