Cape Town - A Cape Town mother is at wits’ end as her son allegedly continues to be tormented by bullies.
The mother from Mitchells Plain said her son has been severely traumatised and believes her son’s alleged bullies are receiving better treatment than her son.
In 2019, the mother approached the media after her son, who was 7 years old at the time and in Grade 1 at Liesbeeck Primary School in Portlands was allegedly sexually assaulted and told to kill himself.
At the time, the boy, now 10 years old, told his father and grandmother about the incident.
“He said he used the toilet and the boy licked his private parts. This boy also placed my son’s penis in his mouth.
“Two days later, that same boy and three others then dunked my son’s head into the toilet.
“They peed on him and told my son to commit suicide,” the mother said at the time.
The incident left her son traumatised and now, in Grade 5, he is still being tormented by the bullies, she said.
Speaking to IOL, the angry mom said after the first incident they received a letter from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) circuit manager who stated social workers would visit the homes of the four boys and then follow up with the family.
“Nothing came out. The WCED never followed up and the school said the same.
“Now, in 2023, the very same boys are harassing, stalking and intimidating my son.
“In 2019, the principal told me in front of my father and the circuit manager not to remove my son from the school and not to worry.
“Now, after I brought this to their attention, the principal told me to find placement for my children somewhere else. This was told to me in the presence of police, class teacher and deputy principal,” she said.
The mother of four said she has been trying to file charges against the children since the initial incident in 2019, yet she was unable to as police would not take her case.
However, since the latest incident of bullying, the mother of four was persistent in getting justice for her son.
“The first time it happened, police in Lentegeur sent me to Eastridge and they refused to open a case. They told me the WCED had to investigate the matter. But I went again to the police station and I spoke to a station commander.
“I was able to open a case,” she explained.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed a case of sexual assault has been opened.
“The children involved in this instance are all 10 years old and in terms of the Child Justice Act they do not have criminal capacity. The matter will be referred to the Department of Social Development for intervention,” Van Wyk said.
The mother of four said due to the trauma, her son is on medication and is seeing a psychologist.
She has also sought assistance from the court social workers via the Department of Social Development.
IOL has also seen the reports and letters from the clinic, hospital and social development.
“My son has tried [taking his own life] about five times. On his first attempt, my son and I stopped him. He had tried hanging himself from the bars in their room.
“I don’t know why these children are doing this.
“My son has refused to go to school.
“The school said my son could write his assessments in the staffroom.
“We took him to school and waited for him. But he did not write in the staffroom; instead, he was taken to another class to write,” she said.
The mother said they had not even been put into contact with the alleged bullies’ parents.
“I asked for intervention from the school and asked for those children to be suspended, but I was told nothing can be done,” she told IOL.
The director of communications for the WCED, Bronagh Hammond, told IOL the allegations that there was no intervention after the first incident in 2019 were simply not true.
“The matter was brought to our attention in 2019. The allegations were made against Grade 1 learners.
“Taking into account their ages (7 years old) and their developmental stages, criminal capacity, safety needs, therapeutic needs, and restoring of relationships, restorative practices were seen as the most appropriate sanction.
“In line with the Children’s Act and Child Justice Act, the district social worker at the time assessed the support needs of both the alleged victim and alleged perpetrators,” Hammond said.
She said the social worker provided the necessary support.
“The social worker provided the following support to the target groups, i.e. pupils, parents, and teachers (school):
“Consulted and provided guidance and support to parents, SBST (School-based Support Team), school principal.
“Conducted home visits to all the pupils involved to engage with parents around support and accountability.
“Co-ordinated a case conference to compile an Individual Support Plan (ISP).
“Linked the school with Safeline for therapeutic support for learners concerned (alleged offenders)
“Linked the school with FAMSA for life skills programmes for foundation phase learners.
“Advocated for anti-bullying awareness with pupils.
“School monitoring was stepped up and the pupil was separated from the alleged perpetrators in his school, attending another class. The learner was seeing a private psychologist/councillor.
“To date, we have no record of notifications from the parent or referrals from the school since 2020 for further support and/or to flag concerns.
“No allegations have been brought to our attention by the school or the parent concerned,” Hammond said.
However, the WCED followed up on the latest allegations after IOL’s media inquiry.
“The WCED followed up with the allegations that have been raised only now – via the media – and the principal has reported that in February 2023, the parent raised the issue of intimidation for the first time since the 2019 incident indicating that the boys were ‘looking at her son’.
“The principal called in the parents of the pupils to address the issue. Counselling was offered to the pupil.
“The parent allegedly indicated that she wanted to remove the child from the school. The principal has indicated that there are witnesses.
“It was then arranged that the pupil would complete an assessment. It was decided that the pupil would not write in the staffroom due to the traffic of pupils and staff, but instead arrange for him to write in the Learning Support room, which was a better option,” Hammond said.
However, the mother shot back, stating she had never received feedback from the school since the 2019 incident.
“The social worker has never counselled or questioned my son. I met with the social worker once. The only counselling my son received were the places I sought out.
“The school was informed of the incident in February. I have a reference number.
“The court must decide, because I've had enough, to be honest,” she said.
The fed-up mother also shared the letter she received from the circuit manager in 2019.
In the letter, seen by IOL, it states the social worker met with the parent (victim’s mother) on a few occasions, she met with the boys and will be doing home visits with all the boys and the school will be provided with training.
“But, whether it happened or not I don’t know. I did not receive any feedback,” she said.
The mother now just wants some sort of justice for her son.
If you or someone you know is experiencing bullying at school reach out to the WCED’s Safe Schools Call Centre’s toll-free line at 0800 45 46 47 for assistance.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL