Latoya's family wants closure after her death

The family of Latoya Temilton who died during a school excursion says it is pinning its hopes on the law firm that has been appointed to investigate the tragic incident. 

Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane yesterday announced the appointment of Nchupetsang Inc Attorneys to probe her death at Wag ’n Bietjie Resort in Witkoppen, Johannesburg, on January 20.

Latoya was a pupil at Laerskool Queenswood in Pretoria.

Latoya’s brother Jason Temilton said the family wanted answers and the truth. “At the end of the day, we need to get closure and understand what really happened to Latoya because we don’t really know what happened to her.

"I mean, we are told by the principal that she hit her head but later on, we found out that she actually drowned, so there are conflicting stories, especially with the paramedics also saying she drowned,” said Temilton.

He said their father got a call from the principal, saying Latoya was injured. “But he never called back with new information after this, and when my mother tried to call him , he wasn’t answering and they [the family] started panicking, which then led them to go to the campsite.

“When they got there the story changed, and there’s only one reason for one to change the story...  and that is to protect themselves. But why would they want to protect themselves if my younger sister really drowned?” asked Jason.

He said the conflicting stories made it very hard to get closure.

“What if someone pushed her into the water because the teachers were not even there and that is why they can’t give straight answers. The kids say there was no supervision at all. We just want the truth because now we are starting to think that maybe my younger sister was killed by someone in the pool, you would have such thoughts if there are so many stories.

“You have one learner who said there was no teacher and they were swimming, and someone even stepped on her under the water. So, my younger sister was under the water for a really long time without anyone noticing.”

The law firm will prioritise consulting and interviewing all relevant stakeholders‚ including pupils‚ teachers‚ the principal‚ the school governing body‚ the school management team and Latoya’s family.

Part of the investigation will be a visit to the resort to interview personnel‚ inspect the scene and review CCTV footage of how Latoya‚ 12‚ drowned.

Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “The law firm will interact with police to review postmortem results and interact with the family of the pupil‚ particularly on allegations that have been circulating publicly.

“The firm is scheduled to complete its investigation in seven days‚ after which the recommendations provided from the findings will be stringently implemented by the department.”

Chiloane said yesterday that the firm’s investigation is also to bring closure to the family‚ the school and fellow pupils who were traumatised by the death. “We need answers about who didn’t do their work‚ who moved their eye from the children‚” he said.

“The children are terrified. One moment they were all together and the next moment the child is no more.

“We also want the attorneys to give us recommendations‚ not only on who might be responsible but also a way forward on how to prevent such incidents. We can’t continue to have incidents where there are excursions and there is a drowning. We’ve been down this road before.”

Chiloane could not‚ however‚ present the law firm to the family as they were in Mpumalanga after the funeral of the child. He said the department would ensure the necessary engagements between the family and the law firm took place.

“The school has assured full co-operation in this investigation‚ which is crucial to determine allegations and circumstances surrounding the incident. We wish to prevent incidents of this nature occurring in future.”