Schools are supposed to be safe spaces for learners, but that was not the case for a Grade 7 pupil at Nizam Road Primary School in Merebank, Durban, who was allegedly bullied and harassed by a male learner who she claims threw a water bottle at her, injuring her lip and nose.

According to the 13-year-old prefect, the drama started when she tried to intervene and stop two pupils from fighting on August 18.
“My friend’s sister was fighting with another girl and I told them to stop because they would get into trouble. That’s when the boy, who is in my grade, asked me what I was doing and tried to pull off my hijab. He walked away and called me a b***h, an a** h**e, and a s**t.

“My friends asked me if I was just going to leave him like that, so I took my water bottle and threw it at his chest. He picked up the bottle and threw it at me, hitting me in the face, and I started bleeding from my nose and lip.”

Her friends took her to the office where she was assisted by a teacher.

“They put ice on my lip and one of the heads of department (HOD) said, ‘Don’t tell your mother because you know how she will react’. The principal said accidents happen, and called the boy a ‘nut crack’,” the girl claims.

After receiving a troubling phone call instructing them to fetch their daughter because she had been hurt, the learner’s worried parents rushed to the school.

“When we got there, I saw her sitting outside the office with a teacher putting ice on her lip. I asked them who did this to my child and they informed me that the boy jumped the fence and ran away. My husband and I rushed her to the doctor so she could get checked. The doctor gave her three injections on her lip and stitched her up,” the girl’s mother explains.

When they returned to the school, the parents tried to speak to the principal.

“He sat laid back in his chair, with his hands behind his back and didn’t say a word. He just looked at us. Another teacher directed us to the HOD’s office. Her attitude towards me changed after I refused to sit down. She said my daughter was wrong for throwing the water bottle, and I asked if that wrong equalled what the boy did to her. There was a heated argument between me and her because she never mentioned the word punishment or what action would be taken against him,” the frustrated mother explains.

Case opened at police station

Later that evening, the parents opened a case at the police station. The following Wednesday, a meeting was held at the school with the girl’s parents and the boy’s mother, who claimed her son had also been injured.

“She said she believes her son because he would never use that language on a woman… The same way she believes her son, I believe my daughter. By looking at the stitches on my daughter’s face, you can tell she wasn’t lying.”

The girl’s mother is disappointed that the school has not taken any action against the perpetrator.

“I want the school to be fair. We have complained many times about bullying, even before this incident, and nothing was done about it. I acknowledge my daughter was wrong for throwing the bottle, but she caused no harm to him. For the little she did wrong, we punished her by not sending her to prom, and for the wrong the boy did, they did nothing. There was no disciplinary hearing or suspension. She told me he was harassing her and walking past her and laughing.”

Another concerned parent, who also wants to remain anonymous, says her son has been bullied and physically assaulted by the same pupil.

“Last year, he physically assaulted my son, and when we approached the school, he said he was just playing a game. My child is not his first victim and certainly won’t be the last, because he gets off so lightly without being punished.”

Attempts to contact the school and get comment from the Department of Education were unsuccessful.