An image of a 15-year-old Selborne College boy with a bloody mouth and blood on his shirt after he was allegedly “beaten up” by 15 other pupils on the school's grounds has caused outrage on social media.
It is alleged the boy, who is related to Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya, was beaten up in the schoolgrounds on Friday.
He said the 15 were “white boys”.
Selborne College public relations officer Jeff Fetting said he had only heard about the incident at the end of the school day.
"I do know that the Grade 10 tutors have taken statements from the boys involved. But because Mr (Andrew) Dewar (the school headmaster) is away in Pretoria settling his son at university, the matter will only be dealt with at the school on Monday," he said.
Ngwenya, who posted a picture of the boy with a broken lower lip on social media, expressed his anger against the manner in which the school's management allegedly responded to the incident.
“What makes me angry is the response from a management member investigating the incident when I told him this was criminal. He downplayed the whole incident and told me that boys will be boys,” said Ngwenya. He called for the immediate suspension of the boys.
The department of education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the department would be intervening and would visit the school on Monday to investigate.
“We do not allow such behaviour in schools. Schools are not war zones but a place for learning,” said Mtima.
Ngwenya said the school had promised to get back to him on Monday about what it planned to do and said he was considering laying criminal charges with the police.
“The mother of the boy has asked that we wait for the school to come back to us. If they don't, all hell will break loose,” said Ngwenya.
The image comes a day after Johannesburg’s Hoërskool President suspended four pupils after a video of a fight surfaced on social media on Thursday.
During a visit to the school on Friday, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said no one knew what caused the fight.
The fight happened on Tuesday and the pupils were suspended on the same day.
In the video of two schoolboys, one boy punches another boy in the head about six times before the beaten pupil falls down. After the fight, four pupils come to the aid of the beaten boy and help him to his feet. – Additional reporting TimesLive..