Security at schools has come under the spotlight, following the fatal stabbing of a learner on the school premises at Khalavha outside Thohoyandou.

Fhatuwani Ramunenyiwa (20) died a miserable death at the hands of fellow learner who stabbed him in the chest, following an argument.

The Grade 12 learner at Jack Lavhengwa Secondary School is but one in the statistics of pupils killed violently at schools. Not long ago, two learners were shot dead at Ralson Tshinanne School at Ngovhela outside Thohoyandou.

The recent death has sparked an outcry from the community over the state of security at schools.

To show the seriousness of the situation, the newly appointed MEC of Education in Limpopo, Dickson Masemola, visited the school and the family on Tuesday, where he addressed learners and also offered his condolences to the family.

Tshililo Ramunenyiwa, sister of the deceased, said she was called to the school on Thursday afternoon, only to find her brother dying. “I had to rush to school after learning of the tragedy and found my brother lying on a table, bleeding profusely. He touched my hand and gasped some words, telling me he had been attacked for a mere chair,” she said.

She added that she was so shocked and helpless that she could not help her dying brother, who then collapsed and died in her arms. She said the family was totally devastated as they had pinned all their hopes on him. He used to fix technical things during his spare time and he was a keen footballer who hoped to be a professional soccer star.

She said Fhatuwani had promised them that he would like to be a soldier when he completed his matric.

According to Ms Ramunenyiwa, the government should beef up security at schools to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy. “Officials speak a lot about changing the learning conditions at school, but less attention is given to security at schools. Had there been strong security at school, my brother would not have died,” she said.

The principal of the school, Mr Solomon Nelufhangani, said he was saddened by the incident. “We never heard of such incidents in the rural areas. We only saw it on TV from the urban areas, but now it is spreading also to the rural areas,” he said. He said the incident was the first of its kind at his school and has brought a lot of terror at the school. “We are beefing up security at the school. We have decided with the school governing body to employ another male guard who will assist the female one we have now,” he said. He said he was happy that the situation had gone back to normal after the intervention of religious leaders, the MEC and education officials who came and addressed the learners.

“We are very grateful to what our new MEC has done. After learning of the incident, he made sure that he visited us and calmed the learners. Our pastors have done a wonderful job and the situation is now back to normal,” he said. He said the police have also pledged to make unannounced visits at the school at regular intervals.

“This will scare learners and prevent them from carrying dangerous weapons to schools and we will have peace again in our school yards,” he said. He urged all stakeholders to put their weight behind the fight against criminality at schools. “The war against crime at schools cannot be won if all of us do not get together and work as a unit to fight it. Let us be united and this scourge will come to an end,” he said.

Fhatuwani Ramunenyiwa will be buried at his home village on Saturday.

Jack Lavhengwa is situated about 20km from Ralson Tshinanne, where two learners were shot dead last year. During Mirror´s visit at the school, security was non-existent as learners went through the gate without being searched. On inquiring as to why no one was being searched, the security guard operating the gate said there was nothing she could do. “What can I do to control the more than 400 learners alone?” she asked.

In the meantime, a Grade 10 learner was denied bail in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court in connection with the death of Fhatuwani. The case was postponed to July 31 for further investigations.