Students Crashes Teacher’s Vehicle After Getting Hold of Keys, SA Blames Educator

• A teacher in the Northern Cape, El-Zané du Plessis, had a terrible experience after trusting her students with her car
• El-Zané du Plessis works at a combined school in Jan Kempdorp, where disaster struck when she tried to take part in a school fundraiser with her Volkswagen T-Cross
• Online users got hold of the jarring story that left El-Zané du Plessis with a damaged car that was only a few years old

El-Zané du Plessis, an educator in the Northern Cape, opened up about getting her car damaged by students. The teacher said she wanted to support students by taking part in a fundraising effort by Grade 11 students.

El-Zané du Plessis would soon live to regret leaving her car as the students who were responsible for her got into trouble. The Northern Cape teacher's story sparked a discussion on social media.

Northern Cape teacher's car damaged by students

El-Zané du Plessis explained that she bought a Volkswagen T-Cross at the end of 2022. During a sports day in 2025, each grade was going to make a fundraising effort. The students in grade 11 decided that they would wash teachers' cars, and when she unlocked the car for them and left the key for them to clean inside, one of them had different ideas. A student later called her to the scene where she arrived, and a woman with a young child said that the pupil drove at incredible speed and almost hit before landing in a ditch. The kid damaged the radiator, gearbox and chassis. The student had previously been in trouble for driving a different teacher's car through town the previous day. El-Zané du Plessis said the student did not apologise for his misbehaviour.

El-Zané du Plessis said the student said even if she sued him, both of his parents are unemployed, and she would only get R20 a month. The teacher revealed that the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) refused to support her matter, and the police would not open a case of theft. Police spokesperson Colonel Cherelle Ehlers insisted that SAPS was investigating the case under the National Road Traffic Act. The Chief Executive of SADTU, Paul Sauer, said the organisation was not able to take criminal action against children, but they would support her if she was not happy with the employer's disciplinary process, which would occur at the school.

SA discusses teacher's unfortunate incident

People were divided about whether the teacher should have entrusted the children with her car keys. Netizens debated whether the woman would be able to get any help from insurance.

@Mbasa_za said:

"Leaving your car keys with teenage boys is a bit negligent. I don’t even give niggas at the car wash my keys, I move it myself."

@Stimela_Mgazi guessed:

'"The insurance will not pay! It is negligent."

@KingSA01194686 commented:

"Let's see how the insurance will tackle this one, 🫤."

@Mo_Magoda shared:

"I washed cars at school. To make extra money; not even once did I drive them teachers cars."

@LiebenbergCarl argued:

"Ha ha.. Sounds like something we all did as youngsters."

@iAmSpreadlove said:

"Ya, this sounds like SA youth. These ones will finish SA in a few years."

Other Briefly News stories about teachers and cars

• A teacher let one of her students show off his driving skills with a small car in a video that went viral.
• One pupil faced serious accusations after his teacher's car was seemingly set alight because of a squabble over a cell phone.
• Some students celebrated when a teacher at their school showed up to work with a brand new car.

Source: Briefly News