IN PICS | ‘Who will help me now my son is gone?’: mother of slain pupil

Gladys Maseko is mourning the death of her son, Ofentse Ntini, 16, a grade 9 pupil at Badirile Secondary School in Khutsong, Carletonville, who was fatally stabbed at school by a fellow pupil on Thursday.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Friday, Maseko could not hold back her tears when talking about the teenager.

“On the day they stabbed him, before he left for school, he reminded me to take my medication, as I am a sickly person,” she said.

Maseko explained that because she is on heavy medication and often collapses at night, Ofentse slept in a bed next to hers so he could assist her if needed.

She said her son was the third-born of four children. He was the only one who helped her around the house and ensured that she took her medication on time.

Maseko described her son as a “chilled and classy” young man who loved dressing up.

“You’d never find him untidy. He loved looking good. He made sure he shows up.

“My son was my pillar of strength. Who is going to help me around the house now that he is gone?”

Ofentse’s cousin, Amanda Shabane, who attended the same school in 2017, said it has always had gangsters.

“I went to the same school as my cousin and what I can tell you is, that school has always been like this. A week never goes by without a pupil either being killed, stabbed or bullied.

“I finished my matric in 2022; it’s been the same issue for years,” she said.

His brother, Nkosinathi Maseko, said Ofentse’s last Facebook post is only making sense now that he is gone.

He wrote: “noma ungafa ungena moto, oksalayo umfundisi uzothi isifikile imoto ka mufi bazalwane.” Which translates as: “Even if you die without a car, the pastor will say, ‘the car of the deceased has arrived’.“

“I guess people know when they are going to die, not exactly how,” Nkosinathi said.

He said he would miss dressing his brother up and his love for animals.

“My brother had a weird love for animals. He had a dog that he’d go hunting with.

“I’m shattered, I can’t even comfort my own mother,” he said.

Kedibone Mashabane, Ofentse’s aunt, could not contain her anger, stating that the government has failed them.

According to Mashabane, Ofentse was smoking with his friends at school when another pupil approached them and asked for a lighter.

She said Ofentse allegedly told the pupil that he was still using the lighter and would give it to him later. The pupil then stabbed Ofentse with a knife.

After he was stabbed, Ofentse did not realise that the wound was serious. One of his friends later noticed that he was bleeding.

He was rushed to hospital, where he later died from internal bleeding.

Residents in Carletonville described the school as a dangerous environment for pupils.

A community member, Lerato Raphiri, said violence in the school gradually starts on Wednesdays.

“The violence in the school starts creeping in on Wednesdays, where we have to start personally fetching our kids at school. Fridays is when the violence worsens,” she said.

“The same thing happened last week and we pleaded with the school for it to be closed but nothing has been done about it.”

Another community member, Alvina Mafabatho, said the school searched children from one area but not others.

“The school used to do a thorough search on all the pupils but they gradually stopped doing that and focused on pupils (from) one area.

“The school is aware that learners come in with weapons but they too are afraid of them,” she said

Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said the department was devastated by the tragic event and extended his condolences to Ofentse’s family.

“The department has dispatched its psychosocial support unit to visit the school to provide support to the affected learners and educators,” he said.

TimesLIVE