24 Jan 2018

Deputy District Commissioner of Selebi Phikwe, Mr Patson Dibotelo has called for calmness to prevail in the town after allegations of satanism sparked an uproar at Makhubu Junior Secondary School on Tuesday, forcing the school to temporarily close down.

He said the issue at hand was a delicate matter that needed to be handled with caution and calmness to get an understanding and map a way forward.

Mr Dibotelo indicated that according to the basic information gathered so far, the row at the school was incited by a security guard who alleged that he saw a snake or some snakes at the school and vindicated the reptiles to the recently transferred school head as having some connection to the snakes.

He said due to the allegations, parents of students at the school descended on Makhubu school up in arms.

He said subsequently students at the school were stopped from attending classes and a decision was made to halt the school proceedings that day.

Mr Dibotelo further indicated that since the alleged incident took place, the security guard who portrayed the allegations about ‘evil’ at the school has not availed himself to explain the allegations. He said the authorities have tried to contact him and have visited his place to get first-hand information about the allegations, but to no avail.

He said at this point in time the guard seems to have disappeared and is nowhere to be found or contacted.

Mr Dibotelo explained that an emergency kgotla meeting was convened at Kagiso Customary Court late Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue.

He said the kgotla meeting was attended by deputy mayor of Selebi Phikwe, Ms Dorcus Letlhogela, some councillors, the customary court leadership and parents of students attending school at Makhubu as well as the community at large.

He noted that at the meeting, some parents alleged that satanism was prevalent at the school.

He said some residents alleged that recently a student from the school was bitten by a snake and died and they attributed the death of the student to satanism.

However, no evidence on how the new school head was connected to the said evil things or acts was availed.

He further stated that on the flip side of the story some parents at the meeting alleged that the said stories about satanism at the school and information that the snake or snakes were seen at the school by the security guard was just a tell-tale story that did not settle well with community and caused havoc.

Further, he said some parents noted that Makhubu JSS was located in the vicinity of coppices, which are naturally a habitat for reptiles such as snakes and it is not suprising to find snakes at the school as  many have been seen there while other snakes have been killed by students.

He said some residents indicated that the issue of satanism at the school was just a myth.

He mentioned that due to this conflict, the town leadership and education authorities decided to close down the school until further notice.

He said the town leadership and education authorities drew a conclusion to hold a prayer session at the school today led by the Selebi Phikwe Ministers Fraternal.

He said church members from around the town as well as the community at large would attend the prayers at Makhubu JSS to rebuke the negative energy that is alleged to prevail at the school - that is if it really exists.

For his part, Selebi Phikwe station commander, Victor Nlebesi indicated that the police have no such case registered because they have not received any official report or complaint about the matter.

Also, he said no body has been apprehended or brought before the police for investigations.

However, he mentioned that the police have been monitoring the situation at the school and around Selebi Phikwe.

He said the police would also be at the prayer session to monitor the situation and maintain order in case anything happens.

At the time of going to press, a meeting with the Central District Education regional director, officers from the Selebi Phikwe Regional Education Office, the school’s staff, town leadership and senior officials from government was being held to look into the issue.

Such allegations of satanism have surfaced before in Selebi Phikwe as mid last year another school, Boikhutso Junior Secondary School experienced the same unrest after allegation of Satanism. Ends