MPHELANDZABA PUPILS DROWN IN UMCOMBOTSI

NOKWANE – Scenes of uniformed children swigging from their beer bottles on their way to class are reported to have been a common feature among some pupils from Junior Certificate worst performers, Mphelandzaba High School.

To make matters worse is that apart from those who would be drinking out of bottles, some of the delinquents are said to have frequented a local drinking joint which sells traditional brew during school hours. “Not all of them have the money to afford beer, so some of them make do with umcombotsi,” lamented a resident of Nokwane, under Ngudzeni Constituency, where the school is situated. An investigation conducted by this publication discovered that the drinking problem of some of the pupils had become an open secret. For instance, almost every resident contacted was aware of the damage that was done by the pupils to the school’s fence, to enable them to jump to the nearest beer- selling spot at anytime of the day. So widespread is the issue about the gap on the school fence such that it eventually acquired the signature name of Mshololo, taken from a well-known illegal crossing point along the borderline between Machobeni, in Nhlangano and neighbouring South Africa.

At first it wasn’t easy to get confirmation about the notorious activities said to have taken place between the school fence and two particular drinking joints located about a five-minute walk away from the troubled school. However, things became easy when one young lad was asked about the ‘illegal crossing’. “Oh, that is commonly referred to as Mshololo around here,” he said. It later transpired that this was an illegal crossing tactically created by some unruly pupils on the fence next to the school’s pit latrines. Information gathered by this publication was that the fence was deliberately cut open next to the toilets, apparently to deceive teachers into believing that the ‘jumpers’ would be coming from the toilet whenever they emerged from that direction. A resident told this publication that the cut had been there for a while until teachers eventually realised it was being used for mischief. Efforts to mend the fence by the school administration sometime during the course of the school calendar year, reportedly could not yield the desired results.

This was after the disobedient pupils turned to a nearby pole which they now use to climb over the fence, en route to the infamous hangouts. Interviewed teachers confirmed that some learners would at times appear drunk after lessons resumed from the morning short break, or after lunch. “On some occasions, one would even smell the liquor in class,” said one of the staffers, who preferred anonymity. Mphelandzaba Head teacher Derek Masuku acknowledged the serious problem posed by the close proximity of the drinking spots to the school. He said the school was struggling to address the drinking problem of the pupils, without the help of the community.

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