A social media post has led a 15-year-old pupil to be a subject of bullying. The grade 11 pupil at Elukhanyisweni Secondary School in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, was seen in a recorded video circulating on Facebook.
The girl was seen being assaulted by another pupil several times until a bystander intervened by assaulting the culprit on Friday, 28 January.
According to the victim’s mother, the culprit had posted something about March babies being ugly last October. She said her daughter shared the post and wrote “ningasiphapheli”.
She said thereafter, she received a message from the culprit to delete the post.
The victim deleted it and was allegedly told she would be dealt with.
Then on Friday, the culprit approached her daughter after school and started assaulting her in front of other pupils.
The mother said since the ordeal, her daughter had not been well.
Watch the VIDEO here
Mpumalanga Community Safety MEC Vusi Shongwe visited the school on Monday, 31 January, to determine the cause of the bullying. He said he was surprised the school had not taken action although the matter dated back to last year.
Shongwe said: “The girl was humiliated in a manner that even now, she has not yet recovered. Professionals are trying to manage the situation.”
He said the department would visit problematic schools in the province to address bullying.
“We will make sure that we manage this situation in a manner that we protect the child from victimisation and to send a clear message to everyone that we are not going to allow anyone to bully others. In Limpopo, a child was bullied and eventually killed herself. In Mpumalanga, we don’t want to see that happening.
We are going to make sure, with all stakeholders, that we leave no stone unturned. If we need to visit a school, we will do so,” he said.
Spokesman Jasper Zwane said the department condemned the incident and had directed that the school governing body (SGB) bring to book everyone involved.
Zwane said the pupil who was seen hitting another one would be subjected to a disciplinary hearing by the SGB.
-daily sun
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