This comes after a report found that the school and the Department of Education were negligent in relation to the death of 13-year-old Keamogetswe Seboko. Seboko’s naked, lifeless body was discovered at the bottom of the school pool on the 15th of January this year. It’s understood that Keamogetswe was swimming with around 60 other learners during school hours, when he went missing. His body was discovered half an hour after the rest of the children had left the pool.
The meeting, which included management and the school governing body, was closed to the media. After sharing the contents of the independent report with the Seboko family at their home in Eldorado Park – MEC Lesufi did the same with the school.
Keamogetswe Seboko laid to rest:
The investigation ruled out murder as a cause of death but indicated that the boy had likely drowned. After the incident in January – the school principal was suspended for a period of three months. Lesufi says five staff members will now be taken through disciplinary processes.
“We took the school through the summary of the report. We have accepted the recommendations that ask us to take disciplinary action against five personnel of the school. We are asking the SGB to assist us to facilitate that process. We have also accepted that the Department is liable. We are releasing our legal team this week to speak to the legal team of the family to arrive at a settlement.”
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the school governing body – Willie Dry – says since the incident, the school has been through a difficult time and they are glad to have the support of the MEC.
“We reserve the right to go through the report and advise our legal team. It’s been hard on the school, there have been a lot of false allegations that we had to take on the chin. With the family, how can you replace a son, you can’t. We said we will give 100% of our transparency and help.”
