Shock, dismay over murder of beloved Brits teacher Johniboy Tselane
Pretoria - After drugging, kidnapping and killing Brits high school teacher Johniboy Harman Tselane, who had gone out for a few drinks after a long day of marking schoolbooks, his attackers dumped his body in Morula View, Mabopane at the weekend.
When the police discovered him on Sunday, they found the exercise books next to his body.
This was said by school principal Nkgomotshe Motaung yesterday, at the memorial service for Tselane.
Terry Tselane, former deputy chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), lambasted criminals for failing to see the value of the life of a teacher in a country like South Africa when they killed his brother.
Learners and educators from St Teresa High School in Brits as well as the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union expressed their heartache.
The service was held in Brits, where mourners gathered to remember the seasoned 57-year-old multi-subject teacher.
However, it was the shock and the tears of his learners that described the mood when they saw Terry, who looked almost like a twin brother of their late teacher, walk into the school premises to attend the service.
Although the police are still investigating and waiting for a post-mortem report, the family believe he must have been drugged at a tavern in Bethanie, North West and dumped in Mabopane.
Terry said he could confirm the police’s suspicions because he found his brother's body bleeding from the mouth, but with no signs of struggle, injuries or bullet wounds.
He said the suspects kept his cellphone as they drove with him in his car. They let him answer his phone when his wife kept calling, but she could tell he was not in his right state of mind.
He said his brother was a big, strong guy, and they would have had to drug him to get him to go with them.
He said his brother loved his work and had a passion for developing young people.
Tselane had worked on the Saturday, and when he was done he put the exercise books in the car and went for a drink, not knowing it would be his last day grading pupils’ work, said his brother, who called on the police to do something about crime in the country.
“This is a very tough time for our family. Almost one-and-a-half years ago, we buried our mother, who died of Covid-19. Two weeks later we buried our sister, who also died of Covid-19.
“My younger brother and I were saying we are the only ones left and we had to support each other.
“ Now the manner in which he died, it leaves you extremely distraught and dejected,” he said.
Tselane's car was found at a guest house in Bethanie, where it is believed one of the suspects went to sleep. The family are confident the suspect will be caught because the person was known even though he fled when vehicle tracking officials arrived.
Pretoria News