The family of three-year-old Kganya Mokhele, who died tragically after a shelf allegedly fell on him on Tuesday at the Little Ashford Preschool in Bedfordview, are demanding answers from the school
Yesterday the family met the MEC for Education Matome Chiloane at the preschool and while they were there drops of blood were still visible from the doorsteps of the classroom where the accident allegedly occurred.
Mokhele’s grandfather Sipho Radebe accused the preschool of lying to them and demanded that they be held accountable for the tragedy. Radebe has alleged that the school refused to share footage of the incident with the family and they had to put up a fight to be allowed viewing.
“We really would like to know what really happened but the treatment we got from this school is horrific. It was lies, lies and lies. And the treatment we got when we demanded the footage… we saw it at 6pm having arrived here at 3pm because we told them we are not leaving the facility until we see the footage,” he said.
Radebe also alleged that the police came an hour after his arrival. “When we asked them why they arrived so late they said we were called 10 minutes ago.”
“My son said the incident happened around 10am and we were here around 3pm. It really leaves a bad taste in our mouths. I’m sure they (creche) didn’t mean for this to happen but what they did afterwards to try to cover-up makes us very angry.”
He said the incident could have been prevented and he would be surprised if the report doesn’t implicate the creche and he said he believed the child died instantly because the hospital told them that when the child arrived in hospital, he had already passed away.
Early Childhood Development (ECD) in Gauteng Department of Education, Phumelele Tloubatla, said they were denied access to the classrooms when they did a walkabout at the school but they would go back to visit the children.
The CEO of the preschool, Cedric Ntumba said in a speech that he was deeply saddened by the incident.
“We are deeply saddened, we are mourning Kganya’s death. The Ashford community shares the sorrow. We are cooperating fully with the authorities.”
He said the delay that occurred after Mokhele’s death was caused by protocols they had to follow. Chiloane said an investigation into the incident has been launched and the closure of the facility will be determined by the investigation which will leave no stone unturned.
His words of comfort to the family was that he understands that it wasn’t easy to lose a child.
“Our children should be the ones to bury us when we find ourselves on the other side. It is very difficult.”
