The director and head of the Wits Business School, professor Maurice Radebe, lost a grandchild when a book shelve fell on top of the toddler.
The three-year-old, identified as Kganya Mokhele, was in class at Little Ashford preschool in Linksfield, east of Johannesburg when the freak accident happened on Tuesday morning.
The boy’s uncle, Solly Mokhele, told Sunday World that he received a phone call from his brother just before 11am informing him that one of the shelves fell on top of the toddler.
“I’m not sure whether he passed on at school, on his way to the hospital, or at the hospital,” said the uncle.
He said when he arrived at the hospital, the toddler had already been certified dead. Once he was back at the preschool, the principal could not explain what happened.
“When we got here [at the preschool], we waited for about two hours until the police arrived. They couldn’t allow us to get in to see [for ourselves the crime scene],” he said.
He added that his nephew’s body was moved from where the accident had happened to the preschool’s sick bay.
According to the school, the child was trying to get a toy when he met his death.
The toddler’s relative, Sipho Radebe, said the preschool chose not to share in detail what led to the child’s death, and noted that he is not convinced the toddler died due to the freak accident.
“What they are saying doesn’t make sense. Where were the people who were supposed to keep an eye on children?” asked the relative.
“I had to kick down the door of the principal’s office [to gain entry] and they are telling us [that] she is traumatised. What about us the family?”
The police are also accused of arriving at the scene four hours after the accident, however, they disputed the allegations and said they were called an hour ago.
A case has been registered and the police in Bedfordview are investigating.
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