When shots echoed through Mitchells Plain, one Grade R teacher chose calm over chaos… and South Africa can’t stop applauding her.
Western Cape, South Africa (21 September 2025) – Sometimes the bravest heroes are the ones standing quietly at the front of a classroom. And while this story is about that kind of bravery, it also shines a light on something deeply troubling: children and teachers being caught in the middle of shootings in South Africa. The idea that little ones had to lie on the floor of their Grade R classroom while gunfire echoed outside is something no community should ever have to accept.
But that’s exactly what happened in Mitchells Plain at Yellowwood Primary.
What followed has captured the hearts of South Africans everywhere. A teacher named Sinead Majiet has been hailed a hero after keeping her young learners calm and safe in the middle of it all. When the shots rang out, she didn’t freeze. She didn’t panic. She simply did what came naturally… she protected her “babies.”
Sinead quickly locked the classroom door, guided her learners away from the windows and gently asked them to lie down flat on the mat. She then put on a soft piano track of Disney’s Moana and told the children to close their eyes and listen to the music.
@user76077961118628Our small babies had to all lay flat on the ground😢😢😢Thank you teacher keeping them calm♬ original sound – zulaiga leeman
In a moment that could have been filled with fear, her classroom was filled with calm. The gunfire outside was replaced by the sound of music and the steady reassurance of a teacher who refused to let fear win.
“Immediately, I locked my door, moved my kids away from the window, and instructed them to lie flat on the mat,” Sinead explained to EWN. “I can’t show my emotions to my learners. They’ll pick it up immediately.”
So, while her own heart was racing, she projected calm. She was their safe place.
A video of her courage was shared on TikTok by an account that calls itself “a grandmother always concerned about kids’ safety”, and South Africans couldn’t stop applauding her. It’s been watched over 300,000 times already, with comments pouring in calling her a “hero,” an “angel,” and saying she “deserves a medal.”
One grandmother who shared the video summed it up perfectly, “I was just so grateful to the teacher for keeping them calm… I can only thank our Creator that all the babies were safe.”
Western Cape Education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond also praised her, saying they are grateful for educators who keep showing up for children in tough environments, often carrying heavy emotional loads themselves. But Sinead doesn’t see herself as a hero. She just sees herself as a teacher who loves her learners like they were her own. And maybe that’s the most heroic part of all.
CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit spoke with Norman Jantjies, Chairperson of the Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum, about the incident and the urgent need for change. You can listen to the podcast below:
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