IN PICS | ‘Who will help me now my son is gone?’: mother of slain pupil

Gladys Maseko is mourning the death of her son, Ofentse Ntini, 16, a grade 9 pupil at Badirile Secondary School in Khutsong, Carletonville, who was fatally stabbed at school by a fellow pupil on Thursday. Speaking to TimesLIVE on Friday, Maseko could not hold back her tears when talking about the teenager. “On the day they stabbed him, before he left for school, he reminded me to take my medication, as I am a sickly person,” she said.

Maseko explained that because she is on heavy medication and often collapses at night, Ofentse slept in a bed next to hers so he could assist her if needed. She said her son was the third-born of four children. He was the only one who helped her around the house and ensured that she took her medication on time.

Maseko described her son as a “chilled and classy” young man who loved dressing up. “You’d never find him untidy. He loved looking good.

[paywall]

He made sure he shows up. “My son was my pillar of strength. Who is going to help me around the house now that he is gone?” Ofentse’s cousin, Amanda Shabane, who attended the same school in 2017, said it has always had gangsters.

“I went to the same school as my cousin and what I can tell you is, that school has always been like this. “I finished my matric in 2022; it’s been the same issue for years,” she said. His brother, Nkosinathi Maseko, said Ofentse’s last Facebook post is only making sense now that he is gone.

[/paywall]