The principal of the Siyathuthuka Secondary School‚ at which a pupil was savagely assaulted‚ was not allowed to speak to the media on Friday when the KwaZulu-Natal education department visited the school.

The meeting with the principal‚ Musa Dindi‚ was part of a fact-finding mission after a video of the assault went viral. Although he was present when department spokesman Muzi Mahlambi addressed media and officials from the South African Human Rights Commission‚ Dindi was not permitted to speak or be spoken to.

Mahlambi also refused to talk about what was said in the behind-closed-doors meeting.

He‚ however‚ did reveal that Dindi knew about the assault when it happened in November‚ but only saw the video on Thursday.

“I can confirm that we met the school principal. We had been assigned by the MEC [of education‚ Mthandeni Dlungwane] to do that. For us it was to ascertain facts. We obviously had many questions … whether the matter was reported by the school to the police‚ whether the alleged perpetrator was arrested and if the victim was assisted in any way.

“We will go back and brief the MEC and he in turn intends to come here with the head of department on Monday. I cannot reveal the nature of our discussion with the principal and the HoD at the moment until I brief the MEC. We will however‚ issue a statement this afternoon‚” said Mahlambi.

Inanda police also came to the school looking for the suspect but were told he no longer attended the school.