By Lungi Langa
A mother of a grade 11 learner in KwaZulu-Natal is calling for justice after her daughter was allegedly sjambokked by a security guard at her school.
This is after an 18 year-old learner at Esizibeni Sivananda Vaswani Comprehensive High was allegedly beaten with a sjambok by a security guard for standing outside the exam venue while other learners were writing their exams.
The incident has left her traumatised during her final exams.
Her mother says her daughter is struggling to continue with her exams following the incident.
The learner was allegedly waiting for her friend, a school mate, outside the writing venue when the security walking past her told her to go inside the exam venue to prepare for her exam. The security then came back after a short while to find her still waiting for her friend. He then allegedly started beating her with a sjambok. The learner says the guard said he was beating her for not listening to him.
“I am not saying that Nandi was not wrong for not listening to the security guard, but I question whether beating her was the correct method. Was she really supposed to be beaten with a sjambok to the extent that she would bleed?” questions the mother.
She says the school did not inform her about the incident; instead, she received a call from a clinic informing her of her daughter’s injuries. She believes that the matter could have been dealt with differently.
“They could have called and told me that she was causing problems and maybe asked me to fetch her and tell me what punishment they were giving her,” says the mother.
She says she did not expect her daughter to be beaten with a sjambok and injured at school.
Following the incident, the mother was admitted to hospital due to complications from diabetes. She blamed the incident for leading to complications with her own health.
She says that the principal informed her in a letter that the security guard was suspended on 31 October. However, she claims to have been sent a picture of the security guard working at the school days after the suspension date noted in the letter.
The mother is calling for action to be taken to ensure justice in the matter.
KZN Police spokesperson, Lt Col Nqobile Gwal, says police are investigating.
“A case of assault is being investigated by Umkomaas SAPS after a pupil was allegedly assaulted at school. The matter is still under investigation,” says Gwala.
The Department of Education has not responded to the allegations.
Pictured above: A learner’s hand
Image source: Supplied
