THE MOTHER of a Limpopo boy who committed suicide after failing Grade 8 three times has accused the education department of insensitivity.
Last January Clarence Mojela, 19, a pupil at Sewela Batho High School in Steiloop, committed suicide after he was allegedly assaulted by a teacher who forced him to go back to Grade 8.
Mojela had failed Grade 8 for the third time and then promoted himself to Grade 9.
The teacher, Isaac Sekgota, allegedly went to the Grade 9 classroom and forced the boy to the lower standard, where he allegedly assaulted him in front of other pupils.
After the assault Mojela's body was found hanging from the branches of a tree in a bush a few metres from the school premises.
After the incident the school principal and the teacher were chased away from the school by the community.
The department of education intervened and posted the principal and the teacher at another school in the Matlalana circuit.
But now the pupil's mother, Charlotte Mojela, is unhappy that Sekgota has been reinstated to the school. She said the department was creating tension between the community and the school.
"This is an insult to me, my family and the community. How dare they bring him back?" asked Mojela.
"None of the things the department promised to do have been done. They said they would replace the teacher but our children had to go for months without a teacher ."
Limpopo education spokesperson Ndo Mangala confirmed that Sekgota had been reinstated at Sewela Batho High School.
Mangala said the teacher was removed from the school temporarily as a precautionary measures.
He said Sekgota was never found guilty of any wrongdoing and "therefore he was innocent in the eyes of the department".