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However, as our primary focus is to ensure the safety and well-being of all our students, we are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the issues you have raised. – Mitchell House College deputy head, Claude Goemenie.

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 Sizwe sama Yende

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Parents at an elite Limpopo private school have described their children’s experience at a team-building camp as a horror movie when they returned “injured, dehydrated and sick” and having seen a grown woman in the nude.

Mitchell House College’s management, they alleged, reacted nonchalantly as they received information about a plethora of unsavoury incidents their Grade 10 children were experiencing during the 17 days of camping at the Warriors Academy in the scenic Magoebaskloof near Tzaneen.

Even more concerning for the parents was the fact that neither Mitchell House principal, Stephen Lowry, nor any other executive team member warned them that a 22-year-old woman had been fatally strangulated about three weeks before the children were sent to the leadership or character-building camp.

“The killer has not been found and is on the loose. We were never told of this and measures that the college had taken to ensure our children’s safety,” said a parent on condition of anonymity.

“The school put profit first. This is the reason we always hear of horrible incidents during camps all over the country. School don’t care much about the safety of children, but profits. They should find other ways to raise funds.” The camp cost about R600 000.

Atarah Katzeff was found dead at her room on July 28. There were no signs of forced entry, but autopsy results confirmed that she was strangled to death. Katzeff hailed from Cape Town. She was a staff member at Warriors Academy for three years.

“We tried to ask the school’s management to cancel the camp and send our children back home. They did not listen,” a parent said.

The second most concerning incident was that one child had Covid-19. The child was taken to a doctor and back to the camp and, since then, nine more children had been allegedly infected.

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The concerned parents also told The People’s Eye that beside the murder they had alerted Lowry and college deputy head, Claude Goemenie, that:

·       The children were subjected to gruelling mountain hiking and forced to carry heavy things.  One child had a spine problem being aggravated and had to devise some means to phone parents because they were not allowed to carry cellphones;

·       One child was wheelchair-bound and was at the camp where no one was trained to deal with the child’s situation;

·       Many parents requested that their children be returned home, but only two children were allowed back. According to the parents, who are black, these two were released because one is white, and the other one is Indian;

·       Some of the children were exposed to an adult woman’s nakedness at the camp;

·       There was a conflict of interest in choosing The Warriors Academy because Lowry’s wife is part of the Academy;

·       The children had no access to cellphones to communicate with their parents during the 17 days of camp; and the

·       The timing of the camp did not give the children enough time to be back and prepare for their exams.

Goemenie dismissed the allegations but indicated an investigation was underway.

“With the information currently available to us, we believe that many of the allegations you raise are misrepresented and factually inaccurate. However, as our primary focus is to ensure the safety and well-being of all our students, we are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the issues you have raised,” Goemenie said.

“We have established robust policies and a code of professional conduct, and if any individual is found to have violated these standards, we will take appropriate action based on our findings,” he added.

Goemenie said that Mitchell House valued the trust that parents and community placed in them and were committed to providing a safe and enriching experience for learners.

The college has however given a glowing feedback about the camp on their website. They say everything was hunky-dory despite the complaints they received during and after the camp.

“The Grade 10 learners returned from their Moepathutse experience on Wednesday last week and though tired  and a little sore from the aches and pains of the hiking they completed, they were triumphant and proud of their achievements,” the college reported.

They quoted both learners and parents expressing the satisfaction with the camp. The college quotes some of the learners saying:

“I liked the energy of the hike.”

“I like how it changed me into a more open-minded person.”