Two Staff Members Shot Dead at Inxiweni Primary School in Tembisa

Gauteng officials visit Inxiweni Primary School after a tragic shooting that claimed the lives of the principal and an administrative staff member.
image: Facebook

by Kelebogile Matlou

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is in shock following a tragic shooting on Tuesday afternoon at Inxiweni Primary School in Tembisa, which killed the school principal and an administrative staff member.

The event occurred at 5 p.m. in the school’s administration block. The 58-year-old principal and her 55-year-old colleague were with other staff members preparing for a meeting later that week when the shooting occurred.

According to first GDE reports, coworkers in an adjacent workplace heard gunfire and hid for their own safety. When they emerged, they spotted the two women laying in a passageway within the administrative complex. Emergency services were called and reacted quickly, but both individuals were pronounced dead on the site.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane paid a visit to the school on Tuesday evening to examine the situation and express their condolences to the families who had lost loved ones.

MEC Chiloane expressed his anger in a statement, calling the act “senseless and brutal… committed within a school, a place meant to be a sanctuary for teaching and learning”. He urged law enforcement to act quickly and bring the criminal to justice.

The agency has announced that psychosocial support teams will be sent to the school to give counseling and trauma support to both students and staff. Police have initiated a thorough investigation into the events surrounding the shooting.

This sad act has left a pall over the community, raising serious concerns about safety in educational settings.