OPINION

"School's out for Rasta kids! Dad Keeps them home from ‘evil' education!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of SA's largest daily newspaper, January 17 2014

Daily Sun (January 17 2014) - THE children of Sthembiso Zulu will never fear their first day at school - because they'll never have one! Sthembiso says he teaches them all they need to know at home.

HE BELIEVES SCHOOLS DO THE DEVIL'S WORK!

He told Daily Sun: "Education teaches people how to be obedient to the devil and makes them slaves of the world."

Sthembiso, a Rastafarian also known as Ras Juda, comes from Shongweni, in KZN.

He has five children. The one-year-old toddler and the three-year-old are too young, but the other three - aged 16, 10 and six - should be at school wearing their uniforms.

"But I teach my kids at home. That way I keep them away from the bad influences of the school kids," said Sthembiso.

The unemployed 44-year-old father said all his kids need to know is how to live a godly life and how to read and write.

Sthembiso, who quotes the Bible in every sentence he speaks, said his children don't need to explain their education to anyone but God.

"And God doesn't need certificates," he said.

His wife Thulisile (34) said she took the eldest kids out of school in grade three. "They learnt about things like sex and human body parts. These are things I don't expect them to know until they are much older," she said.

She said her kids have birth certificates because she went to the hospital to give birth but they will never have IDs.

"We don't need our kids to be registered by government. They belong to God," she said.

Sthembiso said he lives by the will of God and avoids all Satanic things like credit cards, branded clothes and processed food.

"We are reaching the end of the world. All the signs are there.

"We don't want our kids to waste time with the problems and issues of the world," he said.

Sihle Mlotshwa, KZN Education spokesman, said it was the democratic right of parents to decide about their children, but added that the department will investigate.

"We want to persuade them to send their kids to school," he said.

"They have to think beyond their religion and think about the future of their children."

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

 

The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 291,132 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 3rd Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.

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