Letters of demand sent in Enock Mpianzi drowning
Legal representatives for the family of Enock Mpianzi have sent four letters of demand in a bid to hold a number of people to account for the 13-year-old’s drowning death earlier this year.
On Tuesday, the family’s lawyer Ian Levitt revealed that the Department of Basic Education had also been served with papers.
“Four letters of demand have been sent out. The first one is Parktown Boys’ High School, the second one is against the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, the third is the MEC for Education in Gauteng (Panyaza) Lesufi and the fourth one is the head of the education department in Gauteng Edward Mosuwe.
“In terms of actions against schools of this nature we had to institute against all four.”
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Levitt says the family is demanding millions in damages.
“Each plaintiff has instituted an amount of R5 million for the letter of demand. It is important to note that this a provisional amount.
“Once the experts have assessed the trauma and grief that each individual member in the family has suffered, these amounts will be either adjusted up or down depending on the amount that the experts have said are the appropriate amounts to be sued for.”
This comes a month after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) received an inquest docket regarding the death of the grade 8 pupil during a school orientation camp in January.
“As of yet, we’ve heard nothing,” says Levitt.
“We do understand that a process has to be followed. We will, in due course, insist that we be party to the investigations by the National Prosecuting Authority but we think it might be a bit too early especially in light of the lockdown.”