Why Would He Do It?

The griefstricken family of a nine-year-old boy who allegedly took his own life at school want answers about how and why it happened.

- MPHO Tshikhudo 

HE SHOULD’VE been looking forward to the weekend with excitement, like any other nine-year-old.

And he seemed happy as he set off for school that Friday morning, his grandmother says. There was no indication of the horror that was to follow – an unthinkable tragedy that has devastated his family, stunned his school and shattered his community.

Lebo Maseko’s lifeless body was found hanging by a belt in the playground by two of his classmates minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of the day.

As the news spread around the country, the question everyone wanted an answer to was why? Why did a boy of just nine allegedly take his own life?

DRUM goes in search of answers exactly one week after the incident and visits Khula-Mlambo Primary School in Mbuzini, Mpumalanga, where Lebo was in Grade 2.

It’s an ordinary village school, similar to many others like it: the usual three strip design of classrooms, the mandatory JoJo water tank, pit toilets and a classroom that passes for an admin centre.

The lone swing inside an enclosure not far from the school buildings is deserted, and the atmosphere here is eerie.  

Shortly before the final bell rings, the sounds of nursery rhymes drift through the air and the classrooms are filled with learners going about their day before being let loose for the weekend.

But Lebo’s death has cast a pall on the place. And after we’ve been here for a while it’s clear we aren’t going to get an easy answer to our question. For many the little boy’s death remains a mystery.

A LITTLE over a kilometre from the school is the Samora Machel Monument, which marks the location where the plane carrying the then-president of Mozambique crashed in 1986. Nearby is a modest rural house where Lebo lived with his grandmother, Elizabeth Nkosi (47).