Pretoria - “They don’t understand – I just want to protect my child, but my hands are tied.”
These were the words of Roelf van der Merwe, the stepfather of a 14-year-old pupil at the Hoërskool Oos-Moot in Pretoria.
The teenager has allegedly been subjected to bullying and belittling by fellow pupils since last year.
“If she gets hurt at school, they must know all hell will break loose. I feel so terribly small, because I don’t know what more to do to protect her,” he said.
Van der Merwe, who gave his permission for him to be named despite the victim being a minor, said he loved the teenager dearly and regarded her as his own child. He desperately wanted to help her.
He had spoken to the principal and vice-principal, as well as the school governing body, on several occasions to try to establish what was going on.
“My pleas fell on deaf ears,” Van der Merwe said in papers before the Pretoria High Court.
Out of desperation he had held protests in front of the school on two occasions, with a banner on his vehicle saying that the school was doing nothing about bullies.
Van der Merwe said he became so desperate that he even considered sending a bodyguard to school with the child.
On the other hand, the governing body of the school claimed Van der Merwe had embarked on a smear campaign against the school that was harming its reputation.
It also said Van der Merwe was not prepared to debate the issues calmly.
The governing body turned to the high court on Wednesday to obtain an urgent interdict against the father, to restrain him from protesting outside the school or entering the premises without notifying them in advance.
Following negotiations between the parties, they eventually reached an agreement that Van der Merwe would not protest or send a bodyguard with his daughter to her classes. In addition, he would not enter the premises without notifying the school beforehand.
This arrangement would remain in force pending the outcome of an investigation by the governing body into the bullying allegations.
An emotional Van der Merwe sat with his head in his hands outside court on Wednesday.
With tears in his eyes, the heavily built man said: “God hears me. If my child is hurt … all hell will break loose.”
Van der Merwe said the bullying started last year, but became worse this year.
“The victimisation and bullying reached such a serious state that my daughter does not want to go back to school.”
Van der Merwe said some of the children called his daughter derogatory names, and two girls had threatened to beat her. They also belittled her, as she had had an operation to her feet and could not wear school shoes.
Charles Kokt, of the governing body, said they had no choice but to turn to the court. He said they were not blind to the problem of bullying at schools, but there were guidelines which had to be followed in investigating them.
Kokt said the school had appointed a team to investigate the matter.
He said Van der Merwe had refused to calmly discuss the issue, but instead stormed on to the school’s premises and shouted at staff.
Pretoria News
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