An Alberton school principal was shot dead at his home on Tuesday, Gauteng police said.
Spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said Nick Karvelas (44), head of the Little Sparrows Private School in Randhart, was apparently called home by a servant. ”It appears that the house was about to be robbed. The principal was shot after he got out of his car. He died at the scene.”
Dlamini said three men fled in a red Volkswagen Golf. ”This was an attempted robbery. It was not linked to the public-service strike at all.”
It appeared that the principal’s arrival interrupted an intended robbery, as the house was not broken into.
The school’s secretary, who asked not be named, said Karvelas had been running the institution for 15 years. ”His wife was at work when he was killed,” the secretary said.
Karvelas was recently in the news when he objected to road closures in the wealthy suburb of Alberante. He likened the area to a volkstaat because taxis and black pedestrians were not allowed to enter the boomed area.
Prior to the incident, Karvelas sparked debate after being arrested for trying to stop police officers from beating a group of suspected robbers in front of his pupils. According to reports, he was infuriated by the fact that this was done in full view of his pupils. He was arrested for ”hindering the police” and spent five hours in a holding cell, after which he was released on R300 bail.
Karvelas described the assault as ”apartheid-style brutality”.
Parents of the pupils who witnessed the incident said his actions were admirable. One of the parents said her daughter was traumatised for the whole weekend after the incident. Charges were dropped before he appeared in court.
At the time, Karvelas described his time in jail as a terrifying experience. ”You are alone and have no contact with the outside world. I was petrified of being sexually assaulted, and really scared that I would have to stay in custody for a longer period,” he said. — Sapa