The police in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal have launched a manhunt for a suspect who rocked up at Msunduzi Secondary School and shot dead the school principal on Thursday.
The spokesperson for the police in Pietermaritzburg, Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, said on Friday that the principal, 66, was shot numerous times when he tried to intervene in a fight between the suspect and the school’s female employee.
Ngcobo said the principal was confirmed dead on the scene by members of the Midlands Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and added that a case of murder has been registered.
According to EMS, an armed man went into the school on Thursday morning and demanded to see a female employee, allegedly his wife.
It is alleged that the principal tried to calm down the gunman and blocked him from going beyond the reception area, but the suspect gunned him down.
In a statement on Friday, the SA Council for Educators (Sace) condemned the shooting and sent its condolences to the family of the deceased.
“Sace calls on the local authorities, parents and communities to deal with the increasing violence against our teachers. The rights and dignity of teachers must be respected at all times because their rights are also human rights,” said Sace.
In a separate incident also in KwaZulu-Natal, Sace said a deputy principal’s vehicle was burned inside the school premises this week by a learner who had been reprimanded for his behaviour.
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