A concerned Durban mother is demanding answers, claiming that her 11-year-old mentally disabled son had burn wounds on his legs when he returned from school.
The mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her minor child, told News24 on Thursday that she was shocked when her son returned from the school in Sydenham with second-degree burns on his thighs last Thursday.
She said he was fine when he went to school that day.
She claimed that the school later contacted her and only said that her son had diarrhoea and would be sent home.
"But when he arrived, he had burn wounds on his thighs. What's worse is that my son cannot speak. He would have told us by now who burnt him," she said.
She went to her local police station to open a case, she said.
"I went there (to the school) on Monday or Tuesday with a police detective because he wanted to see the crime scene. The teachers harassed me and asked me to speak the truth about what I used to burn my son. The teachers blamed me for what happened. I mean, what is that?" she asked.
"As all the parents in the world would react, I'm not happy about being kept in the dark about what happened. No parent would be happy when they get no explanation of what happened to their children, especially in such instances. They just don't care. I want the truth, I want whoever burnt my child to account for it," she said.
Police were not immediately available for comment.
The provincial education department is looking into the matter.
Kwazi Mthethwa, spokesperson for Education MEC Mthandeni Dlungwana, said the department visited the school to get more information about the incident.
"The child is receiving medical attention now, which is very important to us. We will analyse and reflect on the information we've received and then take a decision on whether to launch a full-scale investigation into the matter. This is a very bad thing to have taken place," Mthethwa said.