South African authorities have suspended eight pupils linked to a case of alleged bullying that has caused national outrage.
A video showing a horrific assault at Milnerton high school in Cape Town last week has been widely shared on social media.
Several boys are seen repeatedly hitting a fellow pupil with various objects, including a hockey stick, hose pipe and belt. According to reports, the boy was one of nine allegedly assaulted.
Angry parents gathered outside the school on Wednesday in protest and were dispersed by police firing tear gas.
They were joined by members of political parties who announced planned demonstrations at the school.
Bullying in schools is a significant problem in South Africa, with videos depicting the violent attacks often going viral. This latest clip is among the most horrific to emerge in recent years.
The mother of the 16-year-old boy being attacked in the video told local online publication, News24, that her son had had cancer and had completed his chemotherapy earlier this year.
“My child had just beaten cancer [only] for something like this to happen to him,” she is quoted as saying.
The teen’s uncle later told local broadcaster eNCA that the boy had since been removed from the school.
Various organisations have also condemned the incident, which took place on 16 October, while the police have confirmed that an assault case has been opened.
Among those to speak out was Amnesty International South Africa, which said the video was “deeply disturbing” and called for “timely disciplinary action”.
The video, which is just over two minutes long, shows the boy pleading with his attackers to stop hitting him.
While he makes this impassioned plea, one of the boys hits him again with a belt, eliciting laughter from some of the others.
Some of the boys are also seen making funny faces and cheering the boy’s attackers as the camera pans across the room.
“No child should ever endure such brutality in a space where [pupils] should be safe and protected from harm,” the international human rights organisation said in a post on X.
South Africa’s education ministry said it had been in contact with the Western Cape education department, which has oversight over the school, and confirmed that the suspended pupils would face disciplinary action.
The provincial department said it was “treating the matter with the seriousness it warrants”.
Both bodies have urged the public not to share the video of the assault or details of those involved, saying that this “not only exacerbates the trauma experienced by the victim but also undermines the rights and dignity of all the [pupils] involved”.
The chairperson of parliament’s education committee also shared her “utter horror and deep concern” over the video.
Joy Maimela said that the incident “is not merely bullying but borders on assault – a criminal offence that demands urgent and decisive action from all relevant authorities”.
