Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Michael Magoronga
A suspected Satanism scare hit Mgandani Secondary School in Zhombe, Kwekwe District, Midlands Province, when a group of about 15 female students allegedly fell into a trance and acted strangely before going on a rampage, attacking a female teacher and vandalising her house located within the school premises.
The teacher, (name supplied), was transferred to the school early this year.
Although cases of female students falling into trances and acting strangely have been reported at the school before, the situation escalated on Wednesday last week when the students turned violent and indiscriminately attacked the female teacher in question.
According to sources, the students would go berserk and become so powerful that no one could restrain them as they bayed for the teacher’s blood.
“About 15 female students went berserk and started calling out the teacher and indiscriminately attacked her with whatever they could find. The female teacher was targeted by the female students who exhibited extraordinary strength and went on to attack her cottage with stones, logs, and even their bare hands.
“The school head rescued the female teacher and managed to sneak her out of the school premises, but her house had already had its windows and doors smashed by the learners,” said the source.
Kwekwe Schools District Inspector, Herbert Maziriri, confirmed the incident, saying the teacher should be transferred for her safety.
“I can confirm we are handling such a case where students went amok and started attacking a certain teacher. In fact, there are three female teachers who are affected, but one was the main target.
“We are working on their transfer from the school for their safety. We are not sure what the issues are that are being raised by the learners, and investigations are still ongoing,” he said.
Ward 13 Councillor, Sphiwe Ntenezi, who witnessed the drama as it unfolded said: “As I speak to you, I am coming from the school, and the situation was not good at all. We witnessed about 15 female learners becoming berserk and attacking the teacher’s house, which was located within the school premises.
“We are yet to ascertain the reason behind the attacks, but there should be something spiritual going on because this is not normal. The girls exhibited extraordinary power, and they would even remove burglar bars with bare hands, which is shocking,” she said.
Clr Ntenezi said this was not the first time such a thing had happened.
“Students have been falling into trances before, but not to this magnitude. This has been happening for a while, but we never thought it would get to this level. This is a serious situation that we have at the school,” she said.
Clr Ntenezi said they will conduct a cleansing ceremony at the school.
“I am sure there are a number of spiritual people, ranging from traditionalists and pastors, to hold a cleansing ceremony as we try to put the situation under control. We are not sure what we are dealing with, so we will try from all angles,” she said.
Headman Nduku said he had convened an emergency meeting to try and bring sanity to the school.
“We held an emergency meeting with teachers, parents, and the community, and we all agreed that there should be a cleansing ceremony to bring sanity to the school. It is a bad thing that teachers get attacked by students; it’s unheard of, and we want order so that lessons can proceed normally,” he said.
Headman Nduku said they were looking for traditionalists who can lead the cleansing process.
“We are now looking for people who can assist in the cleansing ceremony. We have so far received responses from local people, and we will continue looking around,” he said.
