Around the same time (early September 2026, near Spring Day on 1 September), similar videos of an EMPD officer disciplining pupils outside Ponego Secondary School in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, circulated. In those reports, the pupils had reportedly poured water on members of the public during Spring Day celebrations (a practice that has become controversial in parts of South Africa). The officer made them perform push-ups and squats on the street as a form of on-the-spot discipline.
It is very likely the same or a closely related clip that was then captioned and shared on X as “dodging school” / truancy enforcement. South African social media reactions (from the X threads) are mixed but lean positive in the viral posts: many praise the “old-school” or “kasi” style of discipline, say they miss this approach, call for more of it, or joke about the kids getting a workout. Others question whether physical exercise like this constitutes inappropriate punishment, note potential policy issues around corporal-style discipline, or debate the officer’s authority to handle school-related matters this way in public.
EMPD is the municipal police service for the City of Ekurhuleni (covering areas like Katlehong). Officers sometimes get involved in broader public-order or youth-related issues, though formal school discipline is primarily the domain of schools and the Department of Education. No widespread official EMPD statement confirming the exact circumstances of this specific video appears in immediate coverage, and the clip’s popularity stems more from the visual of the kids lined up doing push-ups under police supervision than from detailed official reporting.
In short, the video you referenced is this recent Gauteng EMPD clip of schoolkids being put through physical exercise (push-ups) by an officer, widely shared on X under the “dodging school” framing (with overlapping context around Spring Day water-pouring disruptions). It has sparked the usual debate about discipline methods, police involvement with youth, and nostalgia for stricter approaches.
