Mboro's violent behaviour at school appalling, says department

“This violent and appalling behaviour has no place in our schools or our society.”

This is how the Gauteng education department described the behaviour of Paseka “Pastor Mboro” Motsoeneng who was caught on video swinging a panga at school on Monday.

Mboro claims he went to the school to rescue his son who was allegedly being attacked by staff members when picking up his grandchildren. The video shows him forcibly taking the crying and screaming children from a school in Katlehong. 

The department confirmed the incident happened on Monday afternoon after school when the father of the children came to fetch them, accompanied by two men, one of them being a pastor and armed with two pangas. The other man carried an assault rifle.

Spokesperson Steve Mabona further explained the situation: “Teachers, acting on the alleged instructions from the grandmother, tried to prevent the father from leaving the school premises with the children. In response, the pastor brandished a panga threateningly at the teachers, allowing the father to leave with the children."

In an audio recording supplied to Sowetan, Mboro can be heard explaining why he had two pangas at the school while another man had a rifle in an incident that was recorded and later went viral on social media.

Explaining himself in the audio recording during a conversation between himself, the police, a ward councillor and the school staff at Katlehong North police station,  Mboro said his son had gone to the school to pick up his children but was blocked by teachers. He also alleged the teachers locked up and beat his son up.

“They were throwing stones at my son and while they were kicking him, I ran to fetch the panga.

“If you know that your child is locked up and is being beaten, you go fetch a panga because you don’t want your son to use a firearm because once you use a firearm there will be a pointing case. I am ready to die for my son,” said Mboro. 

Mboro said seeing his son locked up like that made him aggressive.

Mabona further said: “According to a preliminary report at our disposal, a conflict between two families over the custody of the boy learners enrolled at the school, in Grade RR and Grade 2, has been escalating. It is said that the mother of the children passed away in April this year, leading to a dispute between the paternal and maternal sides of the family.

“On the day of the incident, the father of the children had a meeting with the principal in the morning."

In another video, Mboro can be seen holding two pangas trying to open a locked burglar door. A young man on the other side of the door also keeps pulling at the door, trying to open it.

“I will deal with the videos later, but is the school right to hold my son? They beat my son because he wanted to fetch his children. So, I must watch as they beat my son just because it was [happening] in a school?

“I ran to fetch a panga. He [the son] had a firearm with him and I would have said shoot up but I told him to stop,” said Mboro.

A teacher from the school can be heard arguing that how Mboro is handling the matter is wrong. “I don’t care”, he responds.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said they were investigating the matter.

“A team of detectives are currently taking statements from witnesses and all suspects concerned at the police station,” she said.

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