548 cases of bullying have been reported since January – Gwarube

Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has revealed that 548 cases of bullying have been reported in South African schools since the start of the academic year on January 15.

At 305 cases, Limpopo led with the most cases.

Gwarube divulged this in a parliamentary response to the EFF's Lorato Tito-Duba who has asked the minister about the number of bullying cases reported since the opening of schools as well as programmes put in place to address that.

According to Gwarube Limpopo had 305 reported incidents of bullying, North West had 78, Eastern Cape stood at 68, KwaZulu-Natal had 29, Mpumalanga reported 26, Gauteng had 23, the Western Cape had 11, seven were reported in the Northern Cape while only one case of bullying was reported in the Free State.

In 2021, Limpopo pupil Lufuno Mavhunga took her own life after a video recording of her being assaulted by a fellow pupil went viral on social media. The incident triggered public outcry about bullying in schools

In her answer at parliament, Gwarube said they have developed the “Addressing Bullying in Schools” manual which assists schools to identify different types of bullying and develop anti-bullying policies in schools to prevent and manage bullying.

“The DBE is in the process of updating this manual for release by June 2025,” she said.

Gwarube also said the department together with its partners such as the SAPS and social development have also embarked on an inter-departmental campaign on violence prevention.

“This campaign raises awareness on issues such as the prevention of bullying, corporal punishment, gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and drugs and substance abuse in schools and is targeting districts with high levels of crime and violence known as hot spots.

It includes build-up events that take groups of learners through priority content areas related to violence prevention, including drugs and substance abuse,” she said.

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