In a functioning society, why would an act like premeditated murder be seen as a solution for the academic struggles of a 13-year-old child? Last week, reports surfaced of a 13-year-old boy from a primary school in Germiston, Gauteng, being arrested for shooting his principal. This story is not only bizarre but also reflects the pervasive nature of violence across the country.
In this disturbing case, the Primrose Primary School pupil became enraged, allegedly after hearing his parents were to be called in over his poor academic performance.
It’s been reported that the “gunman” and his friends created a WhatsApp group in which they planned for him to shoot the principal in the body and then “go to the head”.
Additionally, two of his teachers, whom he’d labelled as “problems”, according to preliminary investigations by the Gauteng department of basic education, were also targets.
Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said the pupil allegedly targeted the trio because he believed they had alerted his father to his poor performance at school.
The boy carried out his evil mission, allegedly firing three shots, with one hitting the principal. The nature of the child's punishment remains undisclosed.
There has been extensive discussion about how acts of violence among pupils often reflect what they experience at home, and in society at large, yet such incidents persist and escalate.
This story has many layers — one of which needs society to question how we parent our children. Why was the child so afraid of his parents? What kind of punishment did he face that would lead him to contemplate such extreme measures against his teachers? What type of adults are we turning our children into?
Also, what is it that our children are exposed to? How does a 13-year-old get his hands on — and even have knowledge of handling — a gun?
This incident, coupled with one in Limpopo in which a 17-year-old grade 7 pupil allegedly assaulted his teacher, resulting in a severe head wound, undoubtedly turns educators away from their profession. What toll does such violence take on the morale and hope of educators, whose role is to teach children, not confront them.
Regrettably, the picture outside the classroom is equally grim. Just last week, police minister Bheki Cele casually announced that police had registered 7,710 murders between October and December 2023, up from 7,555 during the same period the previous year.
South Africa is, sadly, no stranger to seeing people regarded by some as “problems” being eliminated. Examples are corruption whistleblower Babita Deokaran, who was killed for exposing corruption, Thembisile Yende, who was killed in May 2017 after it was suspected she would blow the whistle on theft at Eskom, and ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa, who was assassinated as he was said to be on the brink of exposing underhanded dealings at a KwaZulu-Natal municipality.
Eliminating “problems” happens far and wide, but this latest incident of a child seemingly wanting to solve his problems with a gun gives substance to the saying that a fish rots from the head down.
It's evidence of a rotten nation.
South Africa appears to be morphing into a criminal state, and children are assimilating into its violent fabric.
It is indeed a sad day when our children believe problems can be resolved through murder.
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