The Education MEC, Tate Makgoe, spoke at the school in Ikgomotseng near Soutpan and said it is important to make her happy wherever she is. “This is to show her, in her absence, that her work is not in vain and we will push the learners to perform as she would have pushed them.” 

He added that the performance of the school must not drop after her death, especially in her subject, because he believes she wouldn’t want things to be that way. “Her death must help us to improve the results of the school, as we learned that before her passing she was already revising the Paper 2 of Physical Science - which is very unusual for teachers to be doing.” 

Makgoe said the learners must keep their focus and make their teacher proud because she would have loved the learners to succeed. He explains that they have seen the work that the social workers have done after announcing the passing of Matefo Mphosela (35) - as the mood is not as sad as he would have expected at the school and he is confident that by the time they leave, the learners will be ready to write the examination.

On Thursday night 20 October 2022, the grade 12 teacher allegedly lost her life at the hands of a 21-year-old learner at her house. According to the departmental spokesperson, Howard Ndaba, Mphosela was fatally stabbed and the motive of the murder is yet to be established as the case is being investigated. 

The principal of the school, Nameng Sehloho, reflected back on the work done by Mphosela, who in 2019 gave the school 85%, in 2020 82% and last year 84.2% in physical science. Sehloho also pleaded to the learners, teachers and the community to stop spreading false information about what happened on the day of the murder - as no one knew such a thing would happen to one of their own.

The police provincial spokesperson, Thabo Covane previously said a case of murder had been opened at the Soutpan Police Station. On the night of the murder, the police received a complaint. Upon arriving at the location, they found the deceased still alive in the ambulance, ready to depart for the Pelonomi Hospital. “According to medical reports, the victim died on the way to the hospital. The deceased had one stab wound on the left side of the upper body,” said Covane. The police have since arrested the suspect, a grade 12 learner.

OFM News