The Eastern Cape department of education is to investigate a complaint that a child was raped by his peers.
Spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said they had received reports of a seven-year-old boy being raped by two boys, one 10 and one 11, last week at a Ngqamakhwe school.
“We have put together a team that will visit the school on Monday.”
A Grade 2 pupil reported the incident to his teachers on Tuesday.
The boy’s mother, who cannot be named to protect his identity, said her son told her that the two boys had been assaulting him for some time now.
“I am so angry. I do not even know where to begin to express how I am feeling right now. My son has been violated in a way that will haunt him for the rest of his life,” she said.
The grandmother of the boy said at a meeting with the school management and parents of the involved children on Wednesday, it came to light that something had happened in the forest next to the school.
She said she took her grandson to a nearby clinic where it was confirmed that he had been penetrated.
“I do not know how the teachers knew what was going on. My grandson came back early from school saying the principal was calling me.
“I asked him if he had fought at school, he said no. It was after I threatened to beat him that he told the truth,” she said.
Mtima said the department condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms.
“We appeal to the community to help us ensure that our learners are in a safe and conducive environment that is fit for education and learning,” he said.
He said the department would engage the services of psychologists to assist and support the pupils.
Police spokesperson Captain Jackson Manatha said a statement had been taken from the grandmother.
The matter would be handled by social workers as both the victim and alleged perpetrators are under age, he added. “The report of the social workers will guide us if a rape case should be opened.”..