David Malebane, a student at the Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in the Limpopo, shoots three lecturers before shooting himself

Date: 15 Jan 1999
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

David Malebane was a student at Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in Limpopo. He had failed to graduate several times and when he received results showing that he had failed again he was enraged. On 15 January 1999, he stormed into the school with a gun and accused lectures of deliberately failing him. It is reported that he went around waving the gun at lecturers that he believed were responsible for his failure to pass. In the end, he shot and killed three lecturers. It is reported that after the rampage, he got into his car and fled. Police later caught up with him near Masheshane where he lives. He stopped his car as he spotted them and shot himself in the head.

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01Nkosi P. and Hangwani M. (1999) Agricultural college turns into killing field from City Press {online] Available at: www.telegraph.co.uk [Accessed on 7 December 2012]
02All Africa South Africa: Northern Province Plans Radical Gun Control Campaign [online] Available at: https://allafrica.com [Accessed on 7 December 2012]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, December 20). David Malebane, a student at the Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in the Limpopo, shoots three lecturers before shooting himself. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094458

South African History Online (2012) 'David Malebane, a student at the Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in the Limpopo, shoots three lecturers before shooting himself', South African History Online, 20 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094458 (Accessed: 1 October 2026).

South African History Online, David Malebane, a student at the Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in the Limpopo, shoots three lecturers before shooting himself [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094458, (accessed 1 October 2026).

"David Malebane, a student at the Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in the Limpopo, shoots three lecturers before shooting himself." South African History Online, 20 Dec. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094458. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "David Malebane, a student at the Tompi Seleka Agricultural College in the Limpopo, shoots three lecturers before shooting himself." South African History Online. December 20, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094458.