School and campsite to blame for Enock Mpianzi’s death – forensic report

The forensic report into the death of Parktown Boys’ High School pupil Enock Mpianzi has found that both the school and the campsite were liable.

Mpianzi (13) was swept away in the Crocodile River while attending a Grade 8 orientation camp at Nyati Bush and River Break Lodge near Brits in North West on January 15.

He was last seen when a makeshift raft he and other boys were on overturned just hours after arriving at the camp.

Harris Nupen Molebatsi Attorneys, the independent law firm which conducted the investigation, found that there were inconsistencies in the version of events told by camp managers when compared to the story of the pupils and the educators.

The law firm found that the campsite was reckless in the administering of activities and also in allowing pupils to swim at a river that was overflowing.

Peter Harris from the law firm presented the evidence on Wednesday evening, saying that the camp lied about the water level of the river when questioned.

“The water level of the river on the day of the accident was a metre higher than the normal water level, the evidence provided by the camp was nothing other than misleading,” Harris said.

According to the school’s duties and code of conduct, educators must be present for all activities at school outings.

However the report found that during the activities at the camp, the educators were late and therefore could not know whether safety measures were taken.

Harris said the report found that when the pupils started to fight the strong current from the river, the teachers did not do anything to help the pupils or try to stop the activities from happening.

“The teachers were in breach of their duties; the school headmaster stopped the activity when he arrived at the scene but unfortunately it was too late” he said.

“The teachers must be held liable for their lack of control in the situation and not making sure learners had life jackets on.”

The report found that the campsite was reckless and negligent in that they did not afford the students the opportunity to wear life jackets.

“The camp must be held liable for the death of Mpianzi,” said Harris.

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said the solutions to these problems would be to ensure that before any school takes pupils to camps or overnight trips, they must perform an inspection of the place.

Mpianzi was the fifth child to die in the same river since 2008.

Lesufi said Mpianzi’s death could have been avoided had the school done its due diligence

“The issue of Nyati Bush could’ve been prevented if the school had done their research. The answer was just on their desktop, they would’ve known of previous deaths in the camp,” said Lesufi.

Get in touch  City Press

+27 11 713 9001 news@citypress.co.za Media Park, 69 Kingsway Road, Auckland Park

Rise above the clutter | Choose your news | City Press in your inbox

City Press is an agenda-setting South African news brand that publishes across platforms. Its flagship print edition is distributed on a Sunday.