Police hunt killer of Gauteng principal shot several times in his car at school

Johannesburg – The Buyani Primary School principal was shot dead on the school premises on Friday morning.

Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed the news and said MEC Panyana Lesufi was on his way to the school.

“We can confirm that we received bad news that one of our principals in Finetown, at a school called Buyani Primary, was shot dead.

“We are currently on our way to the school to understand what might have transpired there,“ Mabona said.

Gauteng Police spokesperson Colonel Kay Makhubela said the principal was shot several times while still in his car on the school’s driveway. A murder docket had been opened, he said.

Lesufi said they were “extremely shocked and outraged” at the news of the fatal shooting.

“Without even knowing the motive for this heartless act, we condemn the shooting of the principal of Buyani Primary and send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. We further call on our law enforcement agencies to pull all the stops to ensure the perpetrators of this senseless crime are brought to book,” he said.

In 2018, a 17-year-old learner stabbed a 24-year-old teacher, Gadimang Mokolobate, to death inside a classroom at Ramotshere Moiloa High School in Zeerust, North West.

Mokolobate had apparently reprimanded the teenager for jumping the queue during the National School Nutrition Programme.

The next day, the teenager arrived at school with a knife and stabbed Mokolobate through the heart while he was invigilating a geography exam.

The teenager was arrested, put on trial and jailed for 10 years.