Mhlengi Dlamini's right hand has been paralysed since 2019 and he says all efforts to get assistance, including reaching out to Kwazulu-Natal Education MEC, Kwazi Mshengu, have yielded no results. This, Dlamini says, was all due to a teacher assaulting him.
The 20-year old says that on the day of the incident his teacher accused him of inciting noise in the classroom, which he initially denied.
Dlamini continued to say that the teacher then accused him of being disobedient and demanded that he hold out his hand in fist form so she could inflict corporal punishment on him with a wooden chalkboard eraser.
I begged her to punish me by using a plastic pipe instead of a wooden eraser. She told me she doesn't take instructions from me and threatened to call the principal on me if I disobeyed her instructions. I was scared of her and told her that I preferred to be punished by her.
After that, he says the teacher then took his hand and hit him with the corner parts of the eraser which lead to his hand becoming swollen.
In a bid to assist the family, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has decided to sue the education department on their behalf.
Dlamini's mother has also said that she is worried about her son's future as he has lost the ability to conduct basic day to day activities such as doing his own laundry, eating, bathing and getting dressed, all of which require her assistance.
As a result of this, Mhlengi now suffers from social anxiety, struggles to write and spends most of his days at home. He also quit school in 2019 due to being teased about his injury by his schoolmates.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has said that it will assist Mhlengi's family in laying a civil claim against the Department of Basic Education.
The mother tried to escalate that matter to the level of the MEC for Education in Kwa-Zulu Natal and the MEC referred them down to lower structures and did not even make effort to follow up. It is unfortunate in our society that when a child is converted to a disabled person and the department of education does not take responsibility.
The MEC said that the provincial education department cannot be held accountable and liable for the actions of the teacher who clearly knew that corporal punishment is unlawful.
The family has also stated that the incident has caused them great financial strain as Mhlengi is no longer able to create pottery products, as he did prior to being assaulted.
His father, who was the first to raise the matter with the school was the family's sole provider and has since passed on after being fatally gunned down last year.
