South African authorities have suspended eight students in connection with an alleged bullying case that has sparked national outrage.
A video of the gruesome attack at Milnerton High School in Cape Town last week has been widely shared on social media.
Many boys are seen repeatedly hitting fellow students with various objects including hockey sticks, hose pipes and belts. According to reports, the boy was one of nine people allegedly attacked.
Bullying in schools is a significant problem in South Africa, with videos depicting violent attacks often going viral. This latest clip is one of the scariest to emerge in recent years.
Organizations and political parties have condemned the incident, while the police have confirmed the attack.
Among those to speak was Amnesty International South Africa, which said the video was “deeply disturbing” and called for “timely disciplinary action”.
“No child should ever suffer such cruelty in a place where (students) should be safe and protected from harm,” the International Human Rights Organization said in a post on X.
South Africa’s Ministry of Education said it was in contact with the Western Cape Department of Education, which oversees the school, and confirmed the suspended students would face disciplinary action.
The provincial department said it was “treating the matter with due seriousness”.
Both organizations have urged the public not to share the video of the attack or details of those involved, saying “this not only increases the trauma experienced by the victim but also undermines the rights and dignity of all (students) involved”.
News 24, an online publication in South Africa, spoke to the boy’s mother in the video, who said her son is a cancer survivor.
The 16-year-old’s mother told News24 that the boy had completed chemotherapy earlier this year.
“My son had just beaten cancer (only) to have something like this happen to him,” she said.
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