‘He would insist on going to school’: Family mourns Daveyton boy killed in school wall collapse
· Citizen
Lwazi Motuse, the Grade 3 learner who died after a wall collapsed at Lerutle Primary School in Daveyton, is remembered by his family as a boy who lived for learning, reading books two grades above his level and refusing to miss a single school day.
The last morning of Motuse’s life began the way many had before it, with the young Grade 3 learner eager to get to school.
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His family had not expected that the boy who once washed his uniform the night before and debated whether to attend would never come home again.
A wall collapsed during breaktime at Lerutle Primary School in Daveyton, Benoni, on Thursday, 26 March, injuring six learners.
Five remain in care. Motuse later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
According to the Gauteng Department of Education, an independent investigation into the cause of the collapse is now underway.
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‘This feels like a dream’
For Motuse’s family, the grief is compounded by the memory of his final morning, a day he almost did not go to school until he did.
“I remember the last day he came back from school, he said, ‘Mom tomorrow I’m not going to school’, while he was washing his uniform.
“The following day, his mom had signed a consent form for a school trip. He said ‘Mom, today I’m going to school,’ and then it turned out that the child was going to lose his life. It hurts,” a family member recalled.
The family member struggled to find words adequate to the loss, describing a child who was bright, warm, and deeply devoted to his education.
“Lwazi was a good kid; he loved school and learning. He was smart. This feels like a dream. I don’t know what to say, we are pained by his loss,” she said.
What the family will miss most, they say, is his extraordinary love for reading, a passion that saw him devouring books meant for learners two grades ahead of him.
“There is a lot I am going to miss about him. His love for reading. He was a grade 3 learner, but he could read a grade 6 pupil’s book. He was intelligent and he loved school. He would insist on going to school even after writing his exams,” the family member added.
A community in mourning
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane visited the family home in Daveyton on Monday to offer his condolences, acknowledging that no official words could meet the weight of the moment.
“There are no words that can truly comfort a family facing such a devastating loss. As a parent and as a member of this community, my heart is heavy. We stand with the family in their grief and we share in their pain,” he said.
Chiloane paid tribute to Motuse’s short life, urging the family to lean on the love surrounding them.
“As we mourn, we also honour the life of this young soul. May the family find strength in the love that surrounds them, and may the young learner rest in eternal peace,” he added.
The department has since deployed psychosocial support teams to assist learners, educators, and the grieving family as the school community processes the tragedy.
Independent probe to provide answers
Beyond the condolences, Chiloane outlined the steps the department is taking to ensure the family receives answers about what caused the collapse.
“We will be bringing an independent law firm here to investigate that whole incident as well. That will give us a full-on report because in these times families want answers. So we need to provide them answers. We do give them as a department, and sometimes they would feel that the answers are not adequate,” he said.
He added that the findings would directly inform the department’s response.
“By bringing on independent law firms to do a thorough investigation as to what had happened, that report is a recommendation.
We review it and then implement it as such,” Chiloane said.
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