HOSEA HIGH STAFFROOM BURNT

MBABANE – Hosea High School staffroom was on Thursday night burnt by unknown people as the school prepared for the Junior Certificate and Form V final examinations.

Unknown people used flammable liquid to burn the staffroom after word had circulated that final examination papers had arrived. The school Head teacher, Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, said he was surprised yesterday morning when he found that the staffroom had been burnt. “Police were called to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire,” he said. Dlamini said there had been no lessons on Thursday after pupils ran riot, having combined forces with their primary school counterparts. “Then we woke up this morning to find that the staffroom had been burnt. We quickly called the police who came to assess the damage and launched investigations,” Dlamini said.

Rioting

The pupils are known to be rioting for the release of their Member of Parliament (MP), Bacede Mabuza, who was arrested together with Ngwemphisi MP Mthandeni Dube on terrorism-related charges. Violence was heightened since last week after revelations that the two MPs had been assaulted, allegedly by His Majesty’s Correctional Services’ officers at the Matsapha Correctional Facility. The Shiselweni Regional Education Officer (REO), Siboniso Gumbi, confirmed that the school head teacher had reported the fire incident. “We gathered that some pupils witnessed the arrival of papers and concluded that these were for the final examination.  However, those were not final examination papers, but certain papers that are used to prepare pupils for the examination,” he said.

Damage

Gumbi said the damage caused to the staffroom was extensive. “Reports we gathered were to the effect that some pupils assisted to put out the flames. At the moment, we cannot say who started it, as such would be determined by the police investigations,” he said. Responding to questions on the pupils refusing to learn, he said the school’s administration was nursing hopes that eventually they would resume lessons. “This is not the only school as that of Ngozi has also had challenges of pupils refusing to learn,” the REO said.

Investigations

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the incident and said investigations had been launched to determine the cause of the fire. Among the burnt items were pupils’ exercise books, chairs, tables, stationery items, curtains and other goods that were in the staffroom. Recently, pupils burnt tyres and blocked the entrance to the school, though no valuable structure was damaged.

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