I have spent an entire week trying to make sense of what happened at King Edward School and to assure my son, who is a pupil there, that we must all carry on.

I have spent an entire week trying to make sense of what happened at King Edward School and to assure my son, who is a pupil there, that we must all carry on.

To say that I am irritated by the Gauteng education MEC's comments is an understatement.

Angie Motshekga has reduced the tragedy of Mfundo Ntshangase's death to political rhetoric of black kids versus society for cheap political mileage.

Many white parents have been biting their tongues because at some base level they hold the same sick belief that this only happens to black people - that it has something to do with black parenting. But God forbid that our MEC also shares these views. Is she getting away with saying it because she is black and an MEC?

If Motshekga was part of the KEPS/KES family, or better still, if she had attended the memorial service and witnessed the KES family break into anthem and war cry for one of their own (at that time colour was not part of our grief), she would have begun to understand that this loss was not a black family's loss, but a loss for the entire KES family.

Motshekga owes Nonhlanhla Ntshangase, who lost her only child, an apology. I agree with David Maimela, Cosas president, that the incident serves as a microcosm of our society.

Nomsa Piliso, Florida