Cape Town - A video that has gone viral on TikTok shows how a physical sciences teacher from the Free State used a classroom broom to sweep out a rinkhals that had slithered in.
What started out to be a normal Tuesday morning at Retief High School in Kestell, quickly took a turn as a student at the front of the class noticed the visitor.
Speaking to IOL, the teacher, who wished to be known as Christo, said he was writing on his board when out of the corner of his eye he noticed something strange moving on the ground.
@sthezaaa Snake in the class
♬ original sound - Sthe Sa M
“I turned around and I saw this movement. The girl in the front yelled ‘snake’ and then everybody was on their desks,” he said.
The video was taken by a student and shows how the rest of the class were screaming on top of their desks while their teacher swept the venomous snake out.
According to the African Snakebite Institute, a rinkhals can spit effectively for up to three meters.
While it has a hood similar to a cobra, it is not a true cobra. The venom of this snake is largely cytotoxic, causing pain, swelling and potentially tissue damage.
Christo said once the snake was out of the classroom, another challenge arose when it slithered among the school bags outside.
“Another teacher came to help and told me to put on my glasses immediately because the rinkhals can spit. We took two dustbins from both sides and the snake went into one. We took it to the veld and released it,” he said.
Social media users commented on the viral video:
@misstavy0: “it's the way that teacher is doing everything in his power to protect you guys first before himself for me 🥺❤🙏
@michaelcubanaholo: “if i was that teacher I would've ran out of that class so fast and left those kids 😅😂
@tshegofatsophadimaphasha：😂😂one of them said "it's a python",not knowing how venomous that snake is.“