Adverse findings against Laerskool Queenswood over grade 7 pupil's drowning at camp

A law firm appointed to investigate the drowning of a grade 7 pupil at a leadership camp has made several recommendations against her primary school, its governing body and the campsite where the excursion took place.

Nchupetsang Inc Attorneys was tasked with investigating the death of Latoya Temilton, who drowned during an excursion in January. Temilton's tragic death occurred when Laerskool Queenswood took pupils on a one-day trip to Wag ’n Bietjie Resort in Witkoppen on January 20. 

Nchupetsang was initially given seven days to complete its work but was delayed for several reasons, including awaiting the release of the postmortem report.

This found that Temilton's cause of death was drowning.

The law firm's director Meshack Nchupetsang presented their findings at a media briefing led by Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane. 

It emerged that while Temilton's parents had been told of the trip back in November 2023, her father signed the indemnity form on the morning of the trip “right at the doorstep of the bus”.

While the school put in an application for the trip to the district, as per memorandum 106 of 2022, the school governing body (SGB) said no formal approval or meeting with parents was held about the trip.

This memorandum requires approval of school trips from the school management team and its SGB. 

“We [also] found that the principal as well as educators lacked the required knowledge of legislative and regulatory framework that exists on one-day excursion[s] when they planned this particular excursion and communicated the excursion during and even after the incident.”

The report recommended that both be charged with misconduct for “providing dishonest and falsified information” to the department and that the SGB be disbanded as it was non-functional.

Turning to the actual drowning, Nchupetsang found that there were conflicting reports on how Temilton drowned, given that the accounts came from classmates aged 11 and 12.

Some pupils said the 12-year-old “was doing a handstand inside the pool and then slipped and drowned”.

“Others said she was flipping her hands and that caused her drowning.

“We found that Latoya was swimming at the deeper end of the pool as opposed to the [shallow] end. So therefore, it was the pupils who identified there was something under the water as it was not really clear and they could then alert the educators and one of the pupils managed to take her out of the pool and put her on the side,” he said.

Temilton could not swim.

Speaking about the campsite,  Nchupetsang found that while it was designated as a leadership camp, it didn't appear suitable for children and lacked safety measures such as lifeguards and life jackets.

There was also no supervision for the children on the day in question.

The firm also found “contributory negligence” on the part of the camp and recommended that child safety be prioritised and supervision increased.

While Nchupetsang made no adverse findings against the department, he suggested that it may face civil liability over the incident.

The law firm suggested that the department compensate Temilton's family, withdraw memorandum 106 and review its excursion policies, particularly those relating to swimming activities.

Chiloane said he hoped the report would bring some closure to Temilton's family and school.

“We have noted all the recommendations and we are determined to implement them, especially with regards to regulations of venues used for excursions by schools. We are grateful to the law firm for their comprehensive investigation that shed light on a number of issues surrounding this incident,” Chiloane said.

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