A TRAGIC incident involving a 5-year-old pupil's death outside an Isipingo school has sparked community action for improved road safety measures.

Local activist Beaver Shunmugam has led the charge for reform as questions arise about emergency response protocols in schools.

He chaired a meeting yesterday (Tuesday) to encourage the community to pay attention to children and road safety.

This comes after a family demands answers after their son was knocked outside Orissa Primary School on February 24.

The family of Phiwokuhle Qophelo Nzuza, of eMlazi, said the child died while waiting for his transport. They alleged the injured child was not taken to the hospital but instead carried back into the school.

His parents were called to school where the principal told them that Phiwokuhle had passed away, the family alleged. They said Phiwokuhle’s body was lying inside an office, covered with a black cloth and he had injuries to his arms and head.

The parents said they had questioned why Phiwokuhle had not been taken to the hospital and called for the incident to be investigated.

In a press statement, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education acknowledged the family’s pain and grief.

“The department has been informed that the school had contacted the parents, ambulance services, and the South African Police Service (SAPS) immediately after the incident. Two teachers had also rushed the pupil to the hospital in one of their private vehicles, where the paramedics later certified the pupil as deceased.

“We are disturbed by allegations that the school is being blamed for the incident, and we wish to assure the public that we are investigating the matter. However, we are more concerned about the reported behaviour of the father, who allegedly threatened the principal and staff with a gun when they went to offer condolences," said KZN MEC for Education, Sipho Hlomuka.

Shunmugam said road safety needed to be brought back to schools if they wanted to stop the death of pupils.

“We held a meeting with metro police, the SAPS and concerned parents after we noticed that pupils' safety was not being taken seriously by schools. We don’t have proper law enforcement at schools to ensure that pupils are safe when crossing the road. Children don’t know any better as they are not taught road safety,” he said.

Shunmugam, who is also the SGB chairman of Strelitzia Secondary School, suggested that pupils should be kept inside the school until their transports arrived.

“We also need to bring back scholar patrols. I used to be on scholar patrol duty as a young pupil and we followed the rules.”

He pledged to continue the fight for schools to teach basic road safety to pupils.

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