Gauteng MEC Panyaza Lesufi on Friday said they have decided to suspend the Parktown Boys’ High principal Malcolm Williams with immediate effect.
It’s been a week since Parktown Boys’ High pupil Enock Mpianzi’s body was found in the Crocodile River and his family say they wouldn’t stop seeking answers until they got justice for the 13-year-old-boy.
Mpianzi was last seen in the water when a raft made by the children capsized during an activity organised by the Nyati Bush and River Break lodge last week.
Despite attempts by many of his fellow Parktown Boys’ High classmates to tell facilitators and teachers that Mpianzi was missing, they only started searching for the grade 8 boy the following day.
Panyaza is giving a public update after he announced earlier this week he will take action against the school’s staff who were at the camp.
Eyewitness News has revealed that at least four other children have drowned at the lodge since 1999.
On Friday morning, Mpianzi’s uncle Sebastian Kodiemoka told 702 that the family was struggling to grieve properly with many details around his nephew’s death still unknown.
“If we have to bury Enock, we still won’t know what happened and how it happened.”
Kodiemoka said they wanted closure: “We want to prepare for his burial, but the lawyers will have to follow the legal procedures so that we can recover and see justice. I think we will get justice because there are witnesses speaking louder than us.”
There’ve been conflicting statements surrounding the incident and a law firm appointed by the Gauteng Education Department is conducting an independent probe.
Lesufi has also called a parents’ meeting at the school later on Friday to update them on the latest developments.