'There was blood all over': Son mourns deputy principal shot dead at Stellenbosch school
Mlamli Matshingana was shot and killed on Friday afternoon
Image: SUPPLIED
With his father’s blood still flowing freely at Kayamandi Primary School, a grieving son found himself doing something no family should ever have to do — scrubbing the spot where his father had been shot and left to die only hours earlier.
And as he mopped the ground where deputy principal Mlamli Matshingana, 54, had fallen, he said it felt unreal to be wiping away the last traces of the man who had raised him and inspired him to become an educator.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said Matshingana was shot at about 1.30pm on Friday.
"Stellenbosch police registered a murder case for investigation following a shooting incident on Friday afternoon at a primary school where man was shot and fatally wounded," he said.
"Police members attended to the crime scene where they found the victim with a gunshot wound to his body."
He said Matshingana was declared dead at the scene by medical personnel.
"The motive for the attack forms part of the police investigation and no arrests have been made yet."
Western Cape education spokeswoman Bronagh Hammond said the department was shocked and saddened by the incident.
She said it appears to have been a targeted attack.
"According to initial reports, an armed individual entered the school premises after learners had been dismissed for the day and approached the victim, who was seated under a tree," Hammond said.
"Counselling and trauma support teams have been dispatched to the school to assist staff members, who are understandably devastated by this senseless act of violence.
"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and the entire school community during this difficult time.
"This is a tragic and deeply disturbing incident, and we urge law enforcement to ensure that the perpetrator is swiftly brought to justice."
His son, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, told IOL they were shown the exact spot under the small tree near the school gate where his father died.
“We went to the school to clean the blood, and we were shown where he was shot,” he said.
“There was blood all over the place, underneath the only tree near the gate.
"That was where he had been sitting with a colleague and another person who had left before the shooting.
"It was not a nice place to be."
He said they were unsure about going there because they did not know whether the guman might come back or what the motive was.
"There was a lot going through our minds," the distraught son said.
"But we were advised by a family member to clean the blood so that it would no longer be there.”
The family, he said, has been told the gunman walked into the school, approached staff sitting outside, and shot at random.
“We didn’t speak to colleagues or learners about him because we don’t know what actually happened before the shooting,” he said.
“The principal did come to our home, but we did not talk much because we did not know the motive.
"According to what we heard, the person who shot him came into the school, found him sitting outside with colleagues, randomly picked someone who was sitting there, and shot him.
"That is why we didn’t speak to anyone from the school.”
Matshingana had spent years working in education.
He became deputy principal at Kayamandi Primary around 2022, his son said.
In the early 2000s, he was a curriculum adviser in isiXhosa and wrote books linked to his language work.
“As a person, he was very kind, very polite, and a good storyteller,” his son said.
“He was fascinated with language, especially isiXhosa, because he did some editing work.
"His whole life was focused on academics, even at home.
"He motivated a lot of academics. I think he loved school more than anything because, after Covid-19, he returned to work at a school for the first time since around 1999 or 2000.
"He enjoyed the school environment and he loved children.”
He said he was an educator because of him. "My dad inspired me to become one," he said.
"He was very family-orientated, and I think I took that from him.
"I have a wife and a small child, and he was very supportive ... I have also never heard anyone complain about him. He was supportive and very inspiring.”
He said the family learnt of the shooting through calls from the former principal, the school secretary and then the current principal, who came to the house.
“I heard from the principal, the secretary, and the former principal,” he said.
“Everyone has accepted what happened, including me, but it still doesn’t feel real because we haven’t seen the body yet.
"We have not identified him.
"We will probably identify the body [on Monday].
"We were told he was taken by Paarl Forensics, so we need to go to Paarl, identify him, and get a report on how many shots were fired, because we still don’t have that information.”
A memorial service is expected to be held on Wednesday, with the burial likely on Saturday, though final arrangements are still being confirmed.
Twigg said the investigation was ongoing.
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