The Eastern Cape education department is investigating cases of school violence after cellphone footage of girls fighting at two East London schools went viral this week.
The brawls at Port Rex and Cambridge High School shows girls throwing punches at each other, tumbling on the ground with their underwear exposed and being dragged by the hair.
Education bosses believe the two cases might be related to bullying.
The footage which was widely shared on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp has sparked outrage from parents and social network users, saying they were shocked by the levels of violence portrayed in the videos.
The footage from Port Rex is a two-part video. The first part shows two girls confronting one girl on the school premises before they start throwing punches and what followed was the exchanging of series of slaps, punches and kicks.
Soon after more girls appear and the fight intensifies.
Loud screams could be heard from onlooking pupils, except from one brave boy who stepped right into the middle of the brawl in an attempt to defuse the outrage.
His attempts, however, fail as the girls continued exchanging blows around him.
The second video, taken on the street outside the school premises, seems to be a continuation of the brawl, but with only two opponents.
The girls wrestle, pull each other’s hair and tumble on the ground, exposing their underwear.
The onlooking pupils are heard cheering them on as they are seen jumping in excitement and clapping hands.
The footage from Cambridge High School shows a girl being dragged by her hair across the school court yard by another girl.
After being dragged, the girl got up, dusted herself and walked away, without any retaliation.
There is no sound on the video.
The Saturday Dispatch was unable to get comment from either school.
The woman who answered the phone at Port Rex informed the principal that the Dispatch was on the line requesting comment on the circulated video and came back saying the school had no comment and referred the Dispatch to the department.
The principal of Cambridge was said to be in a meeting with the school governing body and parents regarding the video.
Provincial education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said a team of officials had been sent to the schools to investigate the cases.
“Those found guilty could be expelled because such acts can end in disaster, such as the death of a pupil,” said Mtima. — arethal@dispatch.co.za