A 16-year-old Grade 10 pupil at Stanwest Combined School has recently been brutally attacked by a general worker, in full view of his classmates.
The incident occurred before the class started with no apparent teacher supervision.
The pupil was beaten with a broomstick with such force that the head of the broom broke off.
Classmates tried to defend him, but the abuse continued.
After the incident, all the pupils that witnessed the assault, were apparently advised by staff members to delete any footage of the abuse on their cell phones.
The pupil was left lying on the ground of the classroom with no remorse shown by the attacker as he fled the scene.
The Standerton Advertiser made enquiries and the headmaster of the school said all relevant information had been sent through to the Board of Education.
The footage only gives an indication of the attack, so any occurrences leading up to this outburst is not yet clear.
According to pupils the assault began when the worker asked the pupil to come down from the table, because he was apparently warming up his hands against the heater, situated near the roof.
The pupil was admitted to the local hospital with head wounds and received stitches to the back of his head, but recovered and returned to school on Monday.
Apparently security guards are present at the school, but their whereabouts during the attack are not known.
A case of grievous bodily harm was opened at the Standerton Police Station.
The 27-year-old attacker, Mr Mfamafuthi Mgema, was arrested last Friday and was to appear in the Standerton Magistrate’s Court on 21 May.
The outcome of the court proceeding are as yet unknown at the time of going to press.
A concerned mother said: “As a parent or a mother, I feel devastated to read this article.
“Teachers should act as the second parents of the pupils and take full responsibilty.
“No child should face such harassment ever again.
“I highly suggest that every parent should have their child install the panic button application, which is called Safekidzone, on their phone.
“This application really helps the parents to locate their children and aside from this, alert them if there’s an emergency.”
For further information visit safekidzone.com
Mr Jasper Zwane, spokesman of the Mpumalanga Department of Education, said the incident will not be condemned and be handled accordingly.
The School Governing Body (SGB) suspended the attacker.
The department has been in touch with the the family of the pupil and sent officials to the school to investigate and counselling has been supplied to those affected by the incident.
