THE plight of teachers at Ndangababi Primary school who have been at the mercy of tikoloshis has turned ugly after the headmistress was attacked last Wednesday morning while in her office, amid reports that the cleansing ceremony is now in limbo.

According to sources close to the developments, the headmistress, Mrs Sithabile Vicky, was found lying unconscious on her desk in her office with blood oozing from her nose. She was rushed to Lukosi Mission Hospital before being transferred to Hwange Colliery Hospital for specialist attention where she was reported to be stable.

"She phoned me asking for water in a strained voice and suspected something was wrong. Minutes later, she called another teacher and mumbled some inaudible words to her before we went to investigate and that's when we found her face down on her table with blood coming out of her nose," said one of the visibly shaken female teachers who refused to be named.

After momentarily regaining consciousness, the teachers who had come to her aid questioned her on what had happened and she told them that she felt something hitting her twice on the back of her head before she slumped to her desk. As they were moving her towards the cottages after calling an ambulance she suddenly screamed as if seeing something and lost consciousness again.

When Sunday News arrived at the school, children could be seen carrying on with their studies while the teachers were said to be locked up in a meeting with Hwange District Education Officer Mr Lovemore Ncube and officials from the ministry of education. A few minutes later Chief Nekatambe also arrived but quickly excused himself saying he was headed for an important meeting in Hwange and had only passed through from Bulawayo after hearing the news of another goblin attack.

Following reports of strange things taking place at the teachers' cottages all the teachers save for Vicky and her deputy fled for their lives until the Matabeleland North provincial education director Mrs Boithatelo Mnguni ordered them to report back for work after which she gave the parents an ultimatum to cleanse the school or face its closure.

Most of the female teachers including the headmistress had resorted to sleeping at Dampa Secondary School where they said they felt safer as there was electricity. The tolokoshis are said to be afraid of light hence their activities are mostly carried out in the darkness of the night.

"We have resorted to sleeping at the secondary school because we are afraid for our lives and the directive from the provincial office left us with no choice. We are working yes but things are no longer the same, yet the relevant authorities don't see that we are in danger maybe until someone dies," said another affected female teacher who added that she was considering quitting her job. Some male teachers who have remained at the cottages have resorted to drinking themselves into a stupor as a way of braving the night without being aware of the extraterrestrial activities.

However, reports have surfaced that the process might be delayed after Chief Nekatambe in whose jurisdiction the area lies refused the nyanga's conditions. According to the conditions, the nyanga from Binga (name supplied) argued that the tikoloshis were coming from the community to terrorise the teachers at night hence it was more effective to cleanse the whole village instead of the school alone.

A showdown is expected between parents and teachers following the latest developments with the Friday deadline set by the provincial education office expected to lapse without action. A meeting with the villageheads has been announced for Friday where the traditional leaders are supposed to come up with a way forward following the chief's refusal to have the whole area cleansed.

Since the onset of the incidences most teachers tendered in their transfer letters to the district office citing possible threats to their lives which were being aggravated by the community's failure to address the matter with urgency.

When Sunday News crew tried to interview Mrs Vicky at Hwange Colliery Hospital, they were barred from seeing her after authorities argued that it was unethical as they had a right to protect the patient's privacy.

"We cannot allow you to do that. We are a hospital that is bound by ethics no matter how interesting the case is, we respect the media and we know you have a duty to inform but we just can't allow you," said Dr Zinyemba, the Medical Services manager at the hospital.

However, according to medical officials who attended to her, the cause of her condition was yet to be explained as all they could find was a concussion on her head, high temperature and blood pressure. Due to the amount of blood she had lost they decided to detain her until they could conduct more tests.

Commenting on the incident, Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ) Provincial co-ordinator Mr Never Nyaunzvi, who was also at the scene, said the incident was unfortunate and could have been avoided if proper measures were put in place.

"As PTUZ, we have always been saying the ministry should ensure that the safety of teachers at educational institutions is prioritised. This incident which could have been avoided is a wakeup call to the ministry that if the lives of teachers are threatened measures should be put in place to safeguard them," said Nyaunzvi.

He added that he was happy with the way the district education office had been handling the issue since the beginning of the incidences and had applauded the office's recommendation to have operations at the school temporarily suspended pending cleansing. Nyaunzvi urged teachers who are affected by such cases or had any grievances to properly register them in writing to the relevant office as provided for in the Public Services Regulations.

"If our members are affected by this they should properly inform their employer advising them of their grievance and desire to be transferred for their safety. It is your right as a civil servant to do so," he said.

Contacted on the latest developments, Mrs Mnguni confirmed the incident but said it was too soon to rule its relationship to the works of goblins which have been terrorising the teachers.

"I have received a report of the incident but I cannot confirm whether it was the goblins until I have received a feedback from the DEO who is on site assessing the situation. My office can't do anything at the moment until we have full details of what transpired otherwise work has to proceed," said Mnguni.

She added that she was unaware that the chief had refused conditions set by the n'anga which were likely to delay the process of ridding the school of the goblins.

"I'm unaware of the chief's decision, however, we had set a deadline of Friday with the assumption that by that time the cleansing ceremony would have been concluded. You would realise that this is a cultural issue that requires the community and traditional leadership to solve," she said. The PED has come under heavy fire over her handling of the matter with some educationists accusing her of negligence after teachers had indicated that their lives were in danger.

Since Sunday News broke the story two weeks ago, there has been growing interest on the issue with several publications carrying the story and members of the public from as far as Bulawayo visiting the school to verify the strange phenomenon.

The school which has a staff complement of 16 teachers now faces imminent closure following the latest developments threatening the education of 674 children.

A Goblin?



She must have been drinking!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ6eJEPMKX0