A rural Eastern Cape teenager who lost sight in his right eye when he was allegedly assaulted by a teacher wielding a plank in 2015, is fighting a new battle to return to school.
Sive Joyi, 16, has been allegedly prevented from returning to Ndindindi Junior Secondary School in Lambasi village, near Lusikisiki.
Teachers – in an apparent vindictive stance – told his mother when she requested a transfer letter for Sive: “Get it from the family lawyers”.
Single mom of four Khayakazi Joyi, 37, sued the provincial education department for more than R5-million following her son’s loss of sight and, apparently, the Ndindindi school staff did not take to this too kindly.
Sive told the Daily Dispatch it was sad to be sitting at home doing nothing while children his age were progressing in their schoolwork.
“I am deliberately prevented from continuing with my schooling. “It’s sad,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I am not happy. I just can’t take this any more. I also have dreams of progressing in life, but now I’m getting old and my poor mother is being frustrated by this” Sive said, shedding a tear.
“My future is in the school, not at home. I’ve been sitting at home nursing the pain that I won’t see properly again. Sitting at home makes things worse for me, as I think every day that I was blinded by the same school that today refuses me a transfer.”
Khayakazi said she had tried everything but no one could help the family. “These officials assaulted my child and they came to my house and apologised. My child won’t ever see again and they expect us to keep quiet, she said.
“This is my child’s future they’ve destroyed. And when we ask for a transfer they refuse, saying we must go to our lawyers.”
“We’ve sued them for this and we are expecting them to pay more than R5-million for the damages,” she said.
The family’s lawyer, Zimaso Ndzabela, of ZYM Ndzabela Incorporated, said the teachers were being vindictive.
“They can’t disqualify the boy from the school system because his family has exercised his constitutional right. They are being vindictive and that’s not fair,” Ndzabela said.
The education department was shocked to hear about the development and, through spokesman Mali Mtima, promised to investigate. “We regret to hear this.
“There’s no official who can prevent a child from a right to learn. “We will investigate this matter and we will make sure that the boy goes back to class,” Mtima said.
Khayakaza, an unemployed mother of four, said: “If I had money I would have taken this matter to Bhisho. It pains me to see my child not going to school while other kids are making progress.”
She had even used the services of an non-governmental organisation, Khula Community Development Project, under the directorship of Petros Majola. Majola confirmed to Dispatch that he attended to the case in January last year.
“It has been three years of lost academic time for this child. What is the role of the department if they can’t help him get into a school?
“We need a dedicated individual within the department who can attend to these cases to avoid these litigations. I’ve engaged the department but they failed to listen and solve this case,” Majola said.
Sive was injured on May 8 2015 while doing Grade 4 at the school.
He said a woman English teacher assaulted all the school kids after they failed to produce their work.
“Immediately after my child was assaulted in the head, it became swollen. He complained of a headache and the next thing he was blind ,” Sive’s mother said.
Sive was rushed to St Elizabeth Hospital in Lusikisiki but later transferred to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, where he spent the next month before doctors declared him blind in his right eye.
After he was released from hospital, he had to go for check-ups and could not attend school.
“The education officials arranged for the teachers to let my child write final exams at home but teachers failed to do that.
“He could not progress to Grade 5,” his mother said.
“All they told us last year was that we’ve sued the school and we must ask our lawyer to prepare the transfer. This year I tried to enrol him in another school and the school asked for transfer papers and I couldn’t find them. All I need is help and the department to face what they’ve done to my child,” she said. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
‘I need to go back to school’
Sive Joyi, 16, has been allegedly prevented from returning to Ndindindi Junior Secondary School in Lambasi village, near Lusikisiki.
Teachers – in an apparent vindictive stance – told his mother when she requested a transfer letter for Sive: “Get it from the family lawyers”.
Single mom of four Khayakazi Joyi, 37, sued the provincial education department for more than R5-million following her son’s loss of sight and, apparently, the Ndindindi school staff did not take to this too kindly.
Sive told the Daily Dispatch it was sad to be sitting at home doing nothing while children his age were progressing in their schoolwork.
“I am deliberately prevented from continuing with my schooling. “It’s sad,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I am not happy. I just can’t take this any more. I also have dreams of progressing in life, but now I’m getting old and my poor mother is being frustrated by this” Sive said, shedding a tear.
“My future is in the school, not at home. I’ve been sitting at home nursing the pain that I won’t see properly again. Sitting at home makes things worse for me, as I think every day that I was blinded by the same school that today refuses me a transfer.”
Khayakazi said she had tried everything but no one could help the family. “These officials assaulted my child and they came to my house and apologised. My child won’t ever see again and they expect us to keep quiet, she said.
“This is my child’s future they’ve destroyed. And when we ask for a transfer they refuse, saying we must go to our lawyers.”
“We’ve sued them for this and we are expecting them to pay more than R5-million for the damages,” she said.
The family’s lawyer, Zimaso Ndzabela, of ZYM Ndzabela Incorporated, said the teachers were being vindictive.
“They can’t disqualify the boy from the school system because his family has exercised his constitutional right. They are being vindictive and that’s not fair,” Ndzabela said.
The education department was shocked to hear about the development and, through spokesman Mali Mtima, promised to investigate. “We regret to hear this.
“There’s no official who can prevent a child from a right to learn. “We will investigate this matter and we will make sure that the boy goes back to class,” Mtima said.
Khayakaza, an unemployed mother of four, said: “If I had money I would have taken this matter to Bhisho. It pains me to see my child not going to school while other kids are making progress.”
She had even used the services of an non-governmental organisation, Khula Community Development Project, under the directorship of Petros Majola. Majola confirmed to Dispatch that he attended to the case in January last year.
“It has been three years of lost academic time for this child. What is the role of the department if they can’t help him get into a school?
“We need a dedicated individual within the department who can attend to these cases to avoid these litigations. I’ve engaged the department but they failed to listen and solve this case,” Majola said.
Sive was injured on May 8 2015 while doing Grade 4 at the school.
He said a woman English teacher assaulted all the school kids after they failed to produce their work.
“Immediately after my child was assaulted in the head, it became swollen. He complained of a headache and the next thing he was blind ,” Sive’s mother said.
Sive was rushed to St Elizabeth Hospital in Lusikisiki but later transferred to Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, where he spent the next month before doctors declared him blind in his right eye.
After he was released from hospital, he had to go for check-ups and could not attend school.
“The education officials arranged for the teachers to let my child write final exams at home but teachers failed to do that.
“He could not progress to Grade 5,” his mother said.
“All they told us last year was that we’ve sued the school and we must ask our lawyer to prepare the transfer. This year I tried to enrol him in another school and the school asked for transfer papers and I couldn’t find them. All I need is help and the department to face what they’ve done to my child,” she said. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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