Police officers have been accused of brutalising learners during a crime awareness campaign at Mahetshe Primary School in Maphisa, Matabeleland South Province, on Wednesday, 21 May 2025.
Parents, guardians, and community members are demanding accountability from both the school and law enforcement regarding the alleged abuse of students.
According to multiple eyewitness accounts and interviews with parents and officials conducted by CITE, learners were subjected to unlawful corporal punishment by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in full view of school staff, without parental consent or prior notification.
The children were reportedly assaulted for various alleged misbehaviours, including “dating, engaging in sexual intercourse, touching each other’s buttocks, stealing packed lunches, bullying, and failing to deliver floor polish and civvies money meant for school use.”
Some of the affected children required medical treatment afterwards.
The police had been invited to the school by the authorities as part of a crime awareness initiative.
Community members were gathered just outside Mahetshe Primary for a water committee meeting with their village head, Shakespeare Ndlovu, when a police Mahindra vehicle entered the school grounds.
Within minutes, distressing cries were heard coming from inside the school.
Ward 20 Councillor Sanelisiwe Mhlophe, who was present at the water committee meeting and also has a child in ECD B at the school, said:
We heard slaps, beatings and cries of children. As parents, we decided to go inside the school to check. The children were crying a lot.
We saw three police officers. One, a female police officer (Madlabuzela) who works at Maphisa Police Station. The second (Ndlovu) was in plain clothes. I don’t know the name of the other police officer but these two were Shona.
Mhlophe claimed that the police failed to inform the parents or the community about their purpose, even though they passed by a stakeholders’ meeting taking place just outside the school. Said Mhlophe:
One man, Dingindlela Ncube, ran ahead and stopped a police officer who was beating a child mercilessly.
Parents questioned why this was happening and why no prior communication had been made if this was a campaign as they had passed us by the gate yet said nothing.
The councillor and other witnesses described children being struck with large canes, lifted by the ears and slapped by the police.
Even learners in Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes were allegedly not spared.
The headmistress, Sibusiso Moyo, was reportedly absent due to illness, leaving Deputy Head Sibonginkosi Ncube in charge.
However, other teachers and the vice chairperson of the School Development Committee (SDC) were present and failed to intervene. Said Mhlophe:
I saw more than 20 canes, which were not adjusted for the children’s ages. The teachers stood by and watched, including members of the SDC. We questioned them why they had not first told parents that children were naughty at school instead of calling the police.
CITE discovered that the flashpoint stemmed from a case involving a pupil who allegedly stole US$20 from a teacher selling snacks at the school.
On 30 May 2025, the village head, Ndlovu, convened a community meeting to address the incident. However, police representatives, education officials, and school authorities did not attend, frustrating the villagers; only two SDC members were present.
On 2 June 2025, parents were summoned to a follow-up meeting at the Kezi Police Station. Some were transported in the same Mahindra vehicle used during the campaign, while others arrived independently.
Although the village head attended, he declined to comment, citing instructions from Chief Fuyane not to speak until the matter is resolved.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Taungana Ndoro confirmed the incident and said that corporal punishment is prohibited under Section 81 of the Constitution and the Education Amendment Act of 2020. Said Ndoro:
While the school’s intent to curb criminal behaviour is understood, the Ministry is investigating allegations of instruction for corporal punishment.
The Ministry is investigating allegations of instruction for corporal punishment since it is unequivocally prohibited under Section 81 of the Zimbabwean Constitution and the Education Amendment Act (2020).
More: CITE
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