School bullies face the music

The Ladysmith Gazette got hold of the mother on Wednesday morning and she confirmed that she had been at the hearing on Tuesday

June 11, 2014

Sipho Zama 1 minute read

The hearing against the prefects who allegedly abused a Ladysmith boy during bizarre initiation rituals at Voortrekker High School’s boys’ hostel in Pietermaritzburg will convene again in August, the mother of the victim told the Ladysmith Gazette.

Arguments at Tuesday’s sitting saw the attorney representing the prefects questioning the legitimacy of the internal tribunal. The prefects evidently confessed to the school principal about two weeks ago.

Their attorney, according to the mother, says this meeting should be regarded as the formal tribunal and the temporary suspension imposed on them should be “binding as punishment”. However, the Ladysmith boy’s mother says she is not letting up in pursuing charges against the boys who tortured her son over a hellish three-month period. Because of the nature of the charges against the three prefects, the identity of the mother and her son is being withheld.

All former reference to the mother, as well as her photo, has been removed from online media sites for this reason.

The boy has been enrolled at a school in Ladysmith and is currently doing well there. “He is happy in his new school,” says the mother.

The Ladysmith Gazette got hold of the mother on Wednesday morning and she confirmed that she had been at the hearing on Tuesday. She doesn’t know what the outcome will be at the end of the tribunal, but is confident that it will be “dark days” for the boys who victimised her son, especially with other parents now speaking out about the abuse their children had to endure at the school hostel.