Tragedy struck Protea South Primary School in Soweto when a grade 7 student collapsed and died on Wednesday 17 February 2021. The incident has left he pupil’s family, school mates and the Department of Education dumbfounded.
The student who was identified as Sibongiseni is withheld was apparently fine all morning until he complained of dizziness before collapsing. The incident occurred around mid-morning as communicated by the Department of Education. Regardless of the teacher’s efforts to resuscitate Sibongiseni as well as those of paramedics who were called onto the scene, Sibongiseni was declared dead at midnight. Sibongiseni had no prior communicated underlying diseases. The MEC for Gauteng Education Panyaza Lesufi passed his condolences to Sibongiseni Khoza’s family.
Student collapses and dies in class
“His educator made multiple attempts to help him regain consciousness, while his mother was contacted and transported to the school. Paramedics were also called to the scene for assistance. Unfortunately, he was confirmed dead at 12.15pm. We are deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Sibongiseni Khoza right at the beginning of the academic year. It is a truly depressing incident and we sincerely share our most genuine sympathy with the pupil’s famiy and his school community,” he said.
In order to assist the school in dealing with the tragedy, the Gauteng Department of Education has sent the Psychological Unit Team to help. The government department has also appointed an independent investigative body to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of Sibongiseni.
In a similar incident, a grade 9 pupil from Hoerskool Henneman collapsed and died in September 2020. The 15 year old boy complained to his classmates that his heart was beating very fast and that he was feeling extremely hot. The school immediately called for a doctor and paramedics who arrived but couldn’t resuscitate the boy. The boy had no underlying conditions and was considered healthy. The department of Education’s spokesperson, Howard Ndaba attended to the incident. Ndaba said the boy had only just began attending school in Hennenman and lived in Virginia. Results of the boy’s post mortem have not been communicated.