Cape Town - A terrified little boy says he is being bullied by classmates who demand “protection money” from him.
The nine-year old said a gang of four boys have been taking his R2 tuck shop money since Grade 1, and when he doesn’t have any money, they beat him up.
Now the Bonteheuwel boy says he would rather go to another school than be terrorised another day by his own classmates.
IOL has chosen not to name the boy.
The Grade 4 learner attends a primary school in Netreg.
This latest reports follows a “cyber bullying” incident last week, in which a 16-year-old schoolgirl was suspended after sharing a foul-mouthed video in which she insulted and intimidated another teenage girl.
The boy's worried grandmother says she has reported the matter to the school “several times” but feels nothing is being done about it.
“It feels like I should be sending him to school with a knife for his own protection, ek weet nie meer wat om te doen nie (I don’t know what to do anymore),” she said.
“This has been going on since he was in Grade 1 and each time I go to the school, the teacher or principal say they are going to do something about it, but they don’t,” she said.
“This is also affecting his school work, but the teacher wrote in his report that he must learn to become independent and stop moaning,” the angry grandmother added.
The woman said she became aware of the bullying when the boy was in Grade 3 and came home with two black eyes.
“I came from work and it was interval (at school) so I called him to the fence to give him money,” she explains.
“He came to me and I noticed he had two black eyes and I immediately went to the school counsellor,” she said.
She said she had stopped giving the boy money when he goes to school, but he said this only angered the bullies who now beat him up even more.
He said the latest attack occurred on Tuesday.
“Hulle het my aangepak (They attacked me),” he said, naming his four classmates.
“I was sitting in my desk when they started swearing at me and hitting me (for not having money).
“Hulle het my lip aan die bloei geslaan. Ek wil nie meer daar skool gaan nie(They hit me on my mouth; I started bleeding. I don’t want to go to that school.),” he said.
Jessica Shelver, spokesperson for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schafer said they will investigate the matter.
“We have a zero tolerance for bullying in our schools. Our officials will investigate,” she said.
Daily Voice