Another Bulawayo pupil stabbed

A 17-YEAR-OLD Magwegwe High School pupil was fatally stabbed by his peer while another learner from Mzilikazi High School is in hospital following a brutal attack by his two classmates, as bullying continues to rear its ugly head in Bulawayo schools. There have been increasing cases of bullying and drug abuse cases at learning institutions across the country.

In February, a Form Four pupil from Founders High School, Wayne Ndlovu (16) died after being stabbed by a learner from Hamilton High School.

In the latest incident, which occurred last week, police said Russell Nkomo was stabbed by an 18-year-old pupil from another school who accused him of bullying his friend.

Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said the incident occurred at Magwegwe Shopping Centre.

“The deceased was at Magwegwe Shopping Centre when he met his fate. There were two other learners from another school who spotted him, and one of whom told the other that Russell had slapped him,” he said.

“The accused confronted Russell resulting in a scuffle during which the former drew a knife and stabbed the latter and he died on the spot.”

Last week on Thursday, a 16-year-old pupil at Mzilikazi High School pupil was rushed to hospital following a brutal attack by two classmates. The incident occurred within the school premises. The victim (name supplied) was struck with a brick on the chest before he was stabbed in the left side of his abdomen with a mathematical instrument.

The victim’s mother, Ms Thelma Khanye said her son who is in Form Two, is in stable condition after doctors successfully drained a blood clot that had formed in his chest following the attack.

“I received a call last Thursday from the school headmaster notifying me that my son had been involved in a fight and sustained serious injuries. The magnitude of the injuries inflicted on him and the manner in which he was attacked just goes to show the lack of discipline, not just in the school, but also in homes,” she said.

Ms Khanye said her son fell unconscious during the attack.”The incident occurred within the school premises behind a classroom block. My son told me that he had lent one of his attackers a shoe duster,” she said.”When he asked for it back, there was an argument which degenerated into a fight resulting in my son sustaining injuries and he had to be rushed to hospital.”

Ms Khanye said after the incident was reported to the police, her son’s attackers did not even show any remorse.”On Friday while we were at the police station, the boys showed no remorse and it was only one parent who casually asked about his condition. I am actually footing the medical expenses and neither of the parents of the boys who attacked my son chipped in with any form of assistance,” she said.

Ms Khanye said this was not the first time that her son had been subjected to bullying at the school, and she is now seriously considering transferring him to another school.

“This is the second incident, and the first time he came home with no tie and jersey after some bullies at the school took them. Following that incident, my son was afraid of school such that he would abscond lessons, and as a parent it is really worrying me,” she said.

Bulawayo Provincial Education Director Mr Bernard Mazambane said investigations are underway.

“The issue was reported and we are yet to receive a comprehensive report from the school head. We will soon send a team that will determine what measures to be implemented at the school to curb such behaviour and incidents,” he said.

“On the part of a child who was killed, we did receive reports that we are still investigating and trying to establish the nature of the incident. What we have gathered is that the victim and the wrongdoer met at a party and had a misunderstanding which led to the unfortunate development.”

Mr Mazambane said the ministry is concerned with the rising cases of bullying in Bulawayo schools.”We realise there is a lot of bullying going on in schools, particularly high schools. It is mostly frequent during the third term and we understand that this is when gang wars are declared,” said Mr Mazambane.

“We are trying our best to mitigate this and have launched programmes that we hope will put an end to this madness. We conduct routine awareness campaigns with police and other stakeholders.”