Although his bravery nearly killed him, a KwaZulu-Natal teacher escaped with his life when he tried to save his colleagues during an armed robbery at the school.

Durban teacher Khetha Ntuli was shot in the abdomen in Buhlebethu Primary School’s main office in Inanda, Newtown C, when two former pupils and several others robbed teachers at gunpoint.

The robbers pretended that they wanted to register a child and a security guard took them to the principal’s office where they were told registration was not possible, Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu said.

Mshengu visited the school on Thursday morning.

“Upon being told the learner cannot be admitted, they pretended to be walking out of the school and went to the staff room and started mugging teachers at gunpoint.”

Mshengu said the principal witnessed the incident on CCTV and heard her colleagues’ screams.

“She then pressed the panic button and called for help through her intercom. Unfortunately, as they were leaving the staff room, they met one of the teachers who was coming in to help his colleagues and they shot him and ran away.”

He said cameras clearly showed the robbers’ faces.

Four people have since been arrested, according to police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele.

Mbele said the four people, aged 19 to 21, were arrested in KwaMashu and were in possession of four cellphones taken during the robbery.

“They will appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court soon.”

Two-month-old Kwahlelo Tiwane, who was snatched in Cape Town, has yet to be found as his alleged kidnapper made her second appearance in court.

Karabo Vivian Tau, 18, applied for bail in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, confirmed regional National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.

He said Tau, who faces a charge of kidnapping, would remain in custody until her next appearance on Monday as her application was postponed.

Western Cape police said a woman had snatched Tiwane, one of twin boys, in Parow last Wednesday by gaining their mother’s trust.

Police spokesperson Colonel André Traut said the woman had posed as a social worker, asking for the baby’s birth certificate and clinic card.

“The suspect returned the next day and accompanied the mother and children in a taxi to Parow, where she told the mother her office was.”

Once the vehicle stopped at the “office”, the woman got out with one of the twins and fled.

Khayelitsha ward councillor Xolisa Ngwekazi told EWN the family and residents had been approached by a young lady posing as a social worker who said she was looking for unemployed people so she could provide them with food parcels and a R1 000 voucher.

All eyes will be on the Gauteng education department on Friday when it releases its report into the death of 13-year-old Enoch Mpianzi, who drowned at a Parktown Boys’ High School Grade 8 orientation camp last week.

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi is expected to release the report at 11:00 at the department’s offices in Johannesburg.

Lesufi is also expected to update parents at the school later in the evening on the developments regarding the boy’s death.

Mpianzi was last seen last Wednesday during a water activity on the first day of the camp at Nyati Bush and River Break lodge near Brits in North West. At the time, a makeshift raft he and other boys were on overturned on the Crocodile River.

Since the tragedy, there have been a plethora of questions about what led to the drowning and whether the school was negligent.

Social media was also abuzz as people analysed the timeline of the events, from when those at the camp realised that Mpianzi was missing, to the moment that school authorities reacted.

8.  Who should be held accountable for the boy’s death?

9. What steps are going to be taken against the school and lodge?

10. Going forward, will the department consider telling schools to scrap these camps, especially at Parktown Boys’ High School?

Here’s a list of 10 questions for Lesufi:

1.  Why did the school not do a roll call before the pupils left for the camp on Wednesday morning?

2.  Was the school negligent in undertaking the trip at the lodge when, it appears, there were previous drownings there?

3.  The lodge has indicated that the school requested a change in activities when the pupils arrived. Why was this?

4.  Why were the children swimming without life jackets?

5.  Besides eight facilitators from the lodge, were there any teachers who supervised the activity?

6.  Why did the school take so long to act and report the case to the police and parents?

7.  Why, when some of the children raised the alarm that Mpianzi was missing, were they ignored?

The Madiba Community Hall in Bhongweni township in Cookhouse in the Eastern Cape is derelict, and the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality has taken the blame.

The hall was built in 1994 to honour former president Nelson Mandela. It is the only functioning hall in the whole of Cookhouse because the town hall has not been repaired since it was torched during 2016 protests. It is used for funerals, weddings and community events.

Nancy Jacobs says she has been complaining about the state of the hall.

“Madiba’s good work is known worldwide. To honour him with a crumbling hall is an insult and shame. All our mayors and councillors have no respect for Madiba. How can they have no budget for an important building like this?”

“The doors are falling apart. Some of them can’t be opened anymore. I remember a day when there was a funeral in that hall; a ceiling fell over the mourners. The roof leaks. Toilets are broken and smelly. Mourners have to climb stairs with a coffin because the main door is damaged.”

The caretaker of the hall Xolani Majoko said the hall was not being maintained.

“Cabinets are broken. Women are forced to share toilets with men. Other men pee outside the hall and cause a stink because all the male toilets are faulty. This is not caused by vandalism: the hall is not maintained by the municipality.

“The roof leaks, and the fence is broken. Trees are growing next to the wall and are causing cracks. More than 180 chairs and tables are broken.”But we have secured the donors to fix it.”

He said the municipality had approached the Amakhala Emoyeni Cookhouse Community Trust which had agreed to help. The trust has a 2.5% stake in the Amakhala Emoyeni Wind Farm.

“As for the town hall, we are still struggling to get the insurance to fix it.”

Siya Mbenya, economic development officer for Amakhala Emoyeni Cookhouse Community Trust, confirmed the trust would help.

He said, “Yes, we will help the municipality in renovating the hall. This is part of our socio-economic responsibility. We are just waiting for a formal document from the municipality.