Parent opens case over ‘bullying’

An East London parent who claims her child was bullied by pupils and some teachers at her school, has opened a case of common assault with the police.

She claims a teacher hit her six-year-old daughter on the head with a broom.

Khuselwa Kumbala, whose daughter is in grade R at Voorpos Primary School, claims the alleged incident last week on Friday was just the tip of the iceberg, as her child had been bullied since January 2018.

“She is now too afraid to go back to school,” Kumbala said.

Principal Andrc Mathee, however, disputed the allegations.

“We are aware that she was making these allegations on social media and we are asking her to refrain from doing this.

“We have reported Friday’s incident to the department of education and an independent investigator from the department is investigating,” said Mathee.

This was confirmed by provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima.

Kumbala said: “Her teacher has [allegedly] labelled her a ‘fussy’ child who likes to complain and when my daughter asks to go to the toilet, the teacher refuses.”

She claimed that in August, her daughter came home with marks on her neck, saying she had been strangled by two other pupils.

“She told me two other pupils had choked her with the jacket she was wearing and the zip had hurt her. When she told the teacher what happened, the teacher [allegedly] told her to let it go.

“The first thing the investigator from the department asked me was to stop posting this on my Facebook account. For me that seems like the school’s image was more of a priority than my child’s wellbeing,” said Kumbala.

Police spokesperson Captain Mluleki Mbi confirmed they were investigating the case.