Two pupils allegedly forced to drink their own urine

A Vhembe teacher says that a moment of stupidity seems to have undone her 31 years of selfless service and her clear record.

"I do not know what happened, and I wish I could undo what I had done," said Ms Thivhonali Matshidze (60), who teaches at Vondwe Primary School. She is about to go on pension and the last thing she wanted was to tarnish her name with the Department of Education.

Matshidze, a Grade 3 teacher, is alleged to have forced two pupils to drink their own urine, after refusing to let them to go to the toilet. Out of desperation, the boys used their squeeze bottles to urinate in and, as punishment, they were forced to drink their urine.

The nasty incident is believed to have taken place two weeks ago, but was kept under wraps as the boys were given strict instructions not to tell anybody and threatened with more punishment if they told any person. The incident, which has shocked the community and traumatised the boys, only came to light last week when the parents were tipped off by whistle blowers.

Even the principal of the school was not informed about the incident, until he received complaints from the parents. He acted swiftly and summoned stakeholders in the community such as the civic, the school governing body, the ANC and parents to a meeting where the matter was discussed. The meeting came about as community members threatened to barricade the entrance to the school, demanding the expulsion of the teacher.

A meeting on Monday, which lasted several hours, was held at the school where it was decided that a task team be appointed to deal with the matter. The task team recommended that, as per normal procedure, a letter be written to the Department of Education, asking them to suspend the teacher with immediate effect. Even after the meeting, agitated parents could not hide their displeasure at how the whole issue had been handled.

“This matter has not been handled properly. Firstly, we were not notified about the incident and were made to know about it from the streets, while it happened at school in full view of other people. This is very shocking. I have never in my life heard of a person drinking urine,” said Ms Fulufhelo Matambela, one of the mothers.

Matambela, who is the mother of Thaluso Nthambeleni (8), said that, after learning of the incident, she questioned her son, who confirmed that it had taken place, and that was when she laid a complaint with the principal of the school. “My son is very traumatised by the incident. He now lacks concentration in class and has lost his self-esteem as other pupils mock him for having drunk his urine. I am very disappointed and shocked about how a teacher with so much experience could have done that to our children,” she said.

Matambela further indicated that she met the teacher, who confirmed committing the offence and asked to be forgiven. “All we need is the strongest action by the department. She should be expelled from teaching, so as to teach her and others a lesson,” she said.

Ms Munzhedzi Matidza, the mother of Thabelo Matidza (10), said she was greatly saddened by what had happened to her son. “If my son had done something wrong, she should have punished him the normal way and not have made him drink urine. This is uncalled for, and as parents we do not want to see her at this school as she is not fit to be in front of a class.”

The chairperson of the school governing body, Mr Joseph Mulaisi, said parents were very angry. “We entrust our children to the teachers and we regard them as parents to these kids in our absence. We are appalled by the whole incident,” he said.

Matshidze, however, admitted her error. “I cannot even explain what was happening in me. I think it is the devil who was in me. I have been a teacher for more than 30 years, and I always taught my pupils hygiene, but I ended up making them drink urine. I am so sorry. What I did was totally wrong and I am prepared to face any penalty,” she said.

She indicated that she could ask forgiveness the traditional way by compensating the families to show her remorsefulness.

The spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Paena Galane, expressed shock on learning about the incident. “We will make every effort to determine the truth about the matter. If indeed it happened, the normal disciplinary processes will follow,” he said. He further indicated that the department did not condone or promote a situation whereby pupils were subjected to such inhuman treatment.

Date:12 September 2014

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

Read: 4334