UPDATE: North ‘suicide teen’ remembered as cheerful
The 13-year-old committed suicide earlier this week after being cyber-bullied.
The north primary school learner who committed suicide earlier this week will be remembered as a cheerful and bubbly person.
“She was a happy soul and always cheerful,” her best friend Remofilwe said.
The 13-year-old Doornpoort Primary School learner was remembered at a memorial service at the NG Kerk Doornpoort on Thursday afternoon.
Remofilwe said she would miss the person she shared the “craziest” moments with.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: North suicide teen’s mom ‘not coping’
“She wasn’t just a best friend, she was the world.”
The teen’s grade 6 teacher Mignon Joubert said she would miss her contagious laughter and her eyes which danced when she was excited.
“I saw her in the afternoons walking to the shop with her head bouncing to the sound of music in her head.”
Joubert encouraged the school learners, staff and family to remember the girl for her love and the life she lived although she died “too soon”.
“May you find comfort.”
School principal Florence Khabele said the learner joined the school at its inception in 2011.
“Although she was one of the 865 learners in my care, when I received the news on Monday I felt something was taken from me.”
Khabele said teachers did not always realise the relationship they had with learners until “something like this happens”.
The teen committed suicide on Monday after allegedly being cyber-bullied by a grade 7 learner at the school.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: North teen suicide egged on by pornographic material
Gauteng education department district representative Ashraf Dawood said officials would visit the school more often.
Officials would also be dispatched to attend the funeral.
The Gauteng education department has since launched an investigation into the suicide and offered its condolences to the family.
An inquest docket was opened by Sinoville police.
She will be laid to rest in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga on Saturday.
ALSO READ: SA soaring teen suicide rate – how to spot the signs
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