Bullying force students to leave Boys High
"They would regularly hit us in the head," a student at Boys High reveals about the bullying that he had endured.
A mother of a Gr. 8 Boys’ High learner who suffered immensely because of bullying, is concerned for the safety and future of her son.
“Senior students, specifically those in Gr. 12, subjected my son to physical assault, extortion, and severe bullying,” the mother states. She started investigating bullying against her son when she received a phone call from him on 4 April 2024.
“I was deeply troubled when I spoke to my son. I was shocked that they had shaved his head and oiled it to make it shine. When I asked him if he was okay, he tearfully admitted that he was not. My son expressed suicidal thoughts during our conversation, prompting me to urgently contact his uncle to intervene and remove him from the school premises. We subsequently notified the police of the situation.”
The mother said the police warned the perpetrators, but they assaulted the boy again two days later. The two families then removed him and his roommate from Boys’ High.
Colonel Adéle Myburgh issued a statement saying a common assault was reported on 4 April 2024. “On 6 April, the child was assaulted again. We assume he was in the hostel, as the second incident happened on a Saturday. The case is still under investigation. The police have made no arrests.”
In a statement titled “All the bad things that have happened”, the victim paints a picture of all the horrors he and his roommate endured. “Every Sunday, the matrics would force us to give them our money. If we did not have any that Sunday, they would make us pay double the following week. They would randomly come to our rooms and take our snacks and money.” The victim says one of the matrics would regularly hit them with a cane for no apparent reason.
He explains that the seniors would hit them in their faces or on their (the two victims) heads if they did not have snacks or money for the matrics. The matrics would also lash out at random and do the same. “We regularly get smacked in the face – the matrics make us blow up our cheeks, then slap them. They call this the “pompa”. The matrics also regularly punched us on our heads. This would happen after dinner, but not every day,” the victim continues.
He recalls an incident where the matrics threw him to the floor and continuously kicked him. They would also deprive them (the two victims) of their sleep by slapping them when they dozed off. Through all statements, it seems the four matric boys reign with terror in the hostel at Boys’ High.
The Potchefstroom Herald contacted the Department of Education for a statement; they promised to investigate the matter. The mother who opened a case said she had contacted the department, which undertook to look into the matter. To her knowledge, they had not communicated since.
