All schools in Tsakane, Ekurhuleni, were closed on Monday morning following a protest by a group of people, including pupils, over the death of a pupil.

Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona told reporters outside Tsakane Secondary School that a group of people went around the township forcefully closing schools.

“It is very selfish for adults to go around the entire township disrupting schooling because there is an incident that happened. You don't do that. All learners are now at home because of this incident. We’ve acknowledged that we are aware of the incident as we have visited the school,” Mabona said.

“After understanding what transpired, we will be in a position to say this is how we are going to manage the situation. It is quite selfish [for people to disrupt schooling]. We have suffered during Covid in terms of losing curriculum time. We are still in a recovery mode...This could have been managed better.”

Mabona was in Tsakane accompanying Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi on a scheduled visit that was announced to the media at the weekend.

The education authorities went to Tsakane to understand the factors that led to a death of a pupil last week.

Mabona said all the department knows is that there was a scuffle at Tsakane Secondary, involving a teacher and a general assistant at the school. A learner died in the process.

While Lesufi was in meeting with the school leadership, pupils were loitering in the streets. Police were also called to Tsakane Secondary to keep an eye on the situation.

Lesufi will brief reporters after the meeting.