Family demand answers after bullied teen’s suicide

“One day I will drink poison because they bully me at school.”

These are the chilling words of EL-Shaddai Christian School pupil Lerato Mochadieane, who died by suicide last week, written on a piece of paper in September before a non-fatal attempt.

The family of the 16-year-old is demanding accountability and justice, saying their child was continuously bullied at the school in Sharpeville, in the Vaal, and despite reporting the incidents to the school, nothing was done.

Family spokesperson Relebohile Moletsane said the family found Lerato’s lifeless body in his room last week.

“He last went to school on Monday, and on Thursday he was supposed to go to school because he was supposed to write an exam; that is when we found him,” said Moletsane.

He last went to school on Monday, and on Thursday he was supposed to go to school because he was supposed to write an exam; that is when we found him
— Relebohile Moletsane, Family spokesperson

“This is not the first time. He attempted to take his life in September. He drank organophosphate and was booked in ICU,” she said.

Moletsane said her brother had been bullied since he started at the school in 2022.

“He was [staying] in [the school’s] hostel, and he told us that he was sexually assaulted. He told us that they [bullies] were forcing him to play with his private parts. That’s when we took him out of the hostel,” she said.

She alleged that three boys assaulted him and choked him in September over a cap they claimed was theirs.

Moletsane said the matter was reported to the school, but they failed to act.

“After we reported the matter to the school, the boys were not suspended. It was not the first time that we reported incidents of bullying at the school. We went to the school a number of times.”

She said that she heard from people that the three boys have been suspended.

“We heard from people because the family refused to see the school representative on Friday when they came here [to Lerato’s home], because we have been reporting [these cases] to them,” she said.

The school representative, only known to the family as “Tabasai”, told Sowetan on Sunday that they were not aware of any bullying incidents.

“We are aware [of the suicide], but the matter has been handed to the department of education, and we will not comment further because the matter is still under investigation,” he said.

Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona said they were waiting for a report from the school.

“The department was alerted about this sad incident, and we have dispatched officials to investigate accordingly,” said Mabona.

Moletsane said the family did not remove Lerato from the school because of its good academic track record, and they believed that the matter would be addressed.