Tembisa School Reels After Shocking Double Murder, As Police Arrest 26-Year-Old Colleague

A Community in Mourning, A Country Asking Hard Questions

For parents and pupils at Inxiweni Primary School in Tembisa, Tuesday afternoon began like any other school day. Teachers were preparing for a meeting. Admin staff wrapped up the day’s paperwork. Children were on their way home.

Then gunshots ripped through the quiet of the administration block, leaving two dedicated education workers dead and an entire community traumatised.

Now, police have confirmed a major breakthrough: a 26-year-old female employee at the school has been arrested in connection with the murders of the 58-year-old principal and 55-year-old admin clerk.

According to police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, the suspect was taken into custody on 19 November 2025, and is expected to appear in the Tembisa Magistrates’ Court on 21 November.

But even with an arrest, one question hangs heavy over the school gates:
How did violence seep into a place meant to protect children?

Gunfire Inside the Admin Block

The shooting took place shortly after 5pm on 18 November. Staff members who were in a nearby office told officials they froze when they heard the gunshots echo through the corridor.

Fear kept them hidden until the firing stopped.

When they finally emerged, they found the principal and the administrator lying in the passagetwo pillars of the school, gone in an instant.

Gauteng Education Department (GDE) spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department is “deeply shocked and saddened,” describing the staff as respected figures who had dedicated their careers to the learners of Tembisa.

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane visited the school later that evening, meeting grieving staff and assessing the scene.

Their presence brought some comfort, but no answers.
The motive remains unclear.

A Country Already Raw From Violence

The tragedy comes at a time when South Africans are already grappling with conversations around safety, violence, and accountability.

Just days before the shooting, social media turned purple for the annual GBV Awareness Campaign, ahead of the Women’s G20 Shutdown planned by Women for Change. Timelines were flooded with survivor stories, outraged commentary, and calls for stronger protection in workplaces, schools, and communities.

Many online users responded to the Tembisa shooting with a painful sense of déjà vu:

• “No one is safe anymorenot even our schools.”

• “Violence has become a language in this country.”

• “How do we protect our kids when adults are killing each other in their classrooms?”

While this murder has not been classified as gender-based violence, the national mood around safetyparticularly for women and workers, has made the incident feel even heavier.

Schools Are Meant to Be Safe Havens, Not Crime Scenes

South Africans often turn to schools for stability in unstable communities. They are places where teachers become second parents, where admin staff quietly sustain the day-to-day heartbeat of a school, and where principals shoulder the impossible mix of leadership, care, and crisis management.

When violence crosses those gates, the damage is psychological as much as it is physical.

Parents are now asking the uncomfortable questions:

• What security measures failed?

• How could an employee allegedly carry out such violence inside the school?

• What trauma support will learners receive?

• Are schools becoming too vulnerable?

The Gauteng Education Department is expected to offer counselling and security reviews, but many families say they want more than immediate relief, they want assurance.

A Community Desperate for Closure

As Tembisa prepares for the suspect’s first court appearance, emotions remain raw. Outside the school, candles and flowers have begun to gather. Teachers are comforting children while trying to process their own shock. Parents, still rattled, are holding their children a little tighter.

The principal and administrator were not just staffthey were community fixtures. People who greeted children by name, attended weekend events, and shaped futures.

Their deaths leave a void that an arrest cannot instantly heal.

But one truth is clear:
South Africans are tired of mourning. Tired of fear. Tired of violence creeping into every corner of life.

And while the motive in this case remains unknown, the impact is painfully familiar.

Tembisa is grieving.
The country is watching.
And once again, we are forced to confront the fragile state of safety in South Africa.

{Source: The Citizen}

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