By James Mahlokwane
THE stabbing of a Sir Pierre Van Ryneveld High School learner outside the school premises on Friday afternoon had been widely condemned.
The incident, which followed only days after violent behaviour by learners of Norkem Park High School, left a Sir Pierre learner seriously injured while another was beaten unconscious.
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Paramedics rushed to the scene to assist the wounded boy. Although it was initially thought the unconscious boy was a Panorama School learner, it was denied by both school principals.
Learners witnessing the fight recorded it on their cellphones. An edited version of happenings can be watched on Express’ website.
Dimitri Theron of Panorama and Margaret Wrigley of Sir Pierre both informed EXPRESS they knew of only one child from Panorama who was present outside Sir Pierre when the fight broke out in a park opposite the school. He left his bag in the area and it was later taken to Panorama.
Theron said he spoke to the child, who explained he had gone to Sir Pierre because his neighbour had told him he was being bullied by a schoolmate at Sir Pierre.
“From our knowledge the boy from Panorama was not involved in the fight. The boy who was beaten and left unconscious is not from Panorama but some college in Ekurhuleni. From our knowledge the child that pepper-sprayed a Sir Pierre learner is not a Panorama learner,” said Theron.
Wrigley said the incident was totally unacceptable and the school would not tolerate it.
“We are currently investigating and conducting interviews to get to the bottom of this matter. It is a bit difficult to acquire all the information because the incident happened after school and outside the school.”
She confirmed on Monday the child from Sir Pierre who was stabbed would be discharged on August 21 or 22.
Wrigley said learners should not be engaging in any form of violence, as that was not part of school culture.
A Sir Pierre learner who spoke to EXPRESS on Friday, maintained there were more than one Panorama learner involved in the altercation.
This learner told EXPRESS the boys involved in the fight pushed away learners who were recording it.
According to the learner, a Grade 10 boy from Sir Pierre told his brother from Panorama that he was being bullied by another Grade 10 boy. His brother came with his friends after school and they started threatening boys from Sir Pierre. They did not even beat the boy who was said to have been the bully, she said.
The situation became confrontational and a Sir Pierre boy was pepper-sprayed and then stabbed. Sir Pierre boys came in their numbers when their schoolmate was bleeding and chased the other boys.
“They caught one of the boys, beat him up and stoned him. As he tried to run he was hit by a car. It was like they wanted to kill him. A security officer stood near the boy to protect him from further attacks.”
On video clips a couple of learners kept screaming the learners had beaten up the wrong person.
Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed the fight occurred and that they were investigating the circumstances.
“We condemn any form of ill-discipline in our schooling environment,” he said.
Kempton Park SAPS spokesperson Capt Jethro Mtshali said no case had been opened at the station and the police were not called to the scene.
