Family members of grade 10 learner that committed suicide after allegedly being bullied say they are devastated

The family members of a grade 10 learner that committed suicide after allegedly being bullied at a high school near Hoedspruit in Limpopo say they are devastated.

The 15-year-old, Pholoso Mthembi, allegedly went home where she committed suicide on Wednesday after school at Molamo-Hlapi secondary school. Her mother Penny Mthembi says her daughter treated people with kindness.

Mthembi says they are struggling to come to terms with the daughter’s untimely death.

“What happened to my daughter has broken my heart. I would like to encourage parents to talk more to their children, to find out if there is anything that’s bothering them, to find out what their challenges are, and even schools, to monitor what kids at schools do, especially when they are gathered after school,” says Mthembi.

The chairperson of the school governing Japie Mkhawana says they always encourage learners to report incidents of bullying.

“We are very much sorry for what has happened at our school and we don’t know what has happened with the learner because always if there is bullying, it must be reported to the principal and if they fail to report to the principal they must report to the SGB so that we can see what must we do about that issue,” says Mkhawana.