‘Camp of hell’: sister says her brother told the family of ‘abuse’ and ill-treatment

One of the boys who was part of the discipline camp at which two pupils from Daveyton Skills School drowned described the camp as “hell”.

Siphamandla Peterson, 15, and Sibusiso Sibiya, 17, drowned on Monday at Hennops River. Sibiya was trying to save Peterson, but they both drowned.

The sister of a 15-year-old boy who attended the camp told TimesLIVE Premium on Wednesday that her younger siblings alleged they were assaulted and abused while on an excursion to Rock Falls Ranch in Centurion at the weekend. 

The 34-year-old from Thembisa, who did not want to be named, said her younger brother was bruised when he returned home from a discipline camp held by NGO Rising Stars Generation.

“His body was bruised, it seemed like he was beaten.” She said her siblings' clothes were covered in mud, and they said they were forced to walk in the mud. 

She said the boys complained they were allegedly assaulted, woken up at 3am and their blankets were forcefully dragged off them to wake them up. 

“My younger brother is so traumatised, and given that he witnessed his classmates drowning, he needs counselling.”

She said her brother had also tried to rescue the drowning boys, but he was prevented from entering the river by one of the learners who feared he too might drown.

She alleged that one of the coordinators of the camp also almost drowned but was rescued by pupils.

“The school is for kids with special needs. Some of them can't write, some of them can't read. It is a special school, they don't deserve to be abused.

“They were referred to that school by the department of education. They took them from a normal school to a special school. It is sad because we thought when they removed them from the normal school, they would take them to a school where they would treat them properly,” she added. 

Sibusiso Sibiya's uncle, Thandanani Sibiya, blamed the school for failing to communicate after the incident. He said the school left pupils at filling stations in the township when they were returned home on Monday evening. 

Sibiya said some pupils were dropped about 15km from their homes and it was very late. He said he had seen photos of the pupils' clothes covered in mud. 

“We are getting information from the kids [about the alleged abuse].

He said the school late on Tuesday didn't have any answers. “Every question that we posed to them — they couldn't answer.” 

He added Sibusiso's mother was not coping. “We were only alerted at 5pm whereas the incident occurred around 1pm,” he said. 

Peterson's grandmother Nomusa Mathebula said she only learnt about the news through the media, then she received a text that her grandson had died. 

“We are very shocked about the news. We first saw it on TV, but we are waiting for the MEC of education and the department to see justice. We see neglect of young children,” she said.

Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane visited both families on Wednesday and said he would appoint a law firm to probe the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the two boys.

He expressed disappointment at some Gauteng schools for not taking extra precautionary measures to safeguard the lives of pupils during excursions and for failing to adhere to protocols pertaining to applying for excursions with the department.

He told media after visiting the Sibiya family that he learnt about the allegations of abuse, and he was disappointed that he did not hear it from the school leadership. 

“We have been told the kids were abused at the camp and there are pictures and videos which disturb me. We have to firstly apologise to the families, and we owe an apology to the kids that were at the camp about what happened,” he said. 

He added the department did not sanction the trip.

“The family has brought it to our attention that the kids were abused, they were [allegedly] assaulted as part of the exercise. They said it was a discipline camp, this is how they flagged it. Those are the answers that the law firm will bring to us.

“This is the information that is coming in bits and pieces. Ideally I should have got this information from the principal first,” he said. 

Prince Motlou from Rising Stars Generation said he was inundated with calls from journalists about the allegations. He said he would communicate with the school first before he could answer the allegations. 

“I am going to contact the school to hear what is going on. I can't make any comment until the allegations are verified. I don't want to be in a space where I break an agreement. No comment for now,” he said.