Phetoho Maja
​The Gauteng Department of Social Development Nigel Office visited Duduza Primary School in Ekurhuleni to render peer education to learners on issues of bullying, substance abuse and social crime prevention.
This engagement was in line with the words of former president and stalwart, Tata Nelson Mandela, that education is the most valuable tool that we can use as a nation to change the world for the better.

Speaking to learners, Social Work Supervisor Johnson Tau reiterated that children should not keep quiet when they experience bullying or any kind of intimidation at school.

He said, “We are here as Social Development to do an awareness campaign and to share perspectives in addressing bullying, substance abuse and social crime prevention. We chose this school in particular, which falls under the Nigel Cluster, because we felt these issues in discussion were prevalent in the area.”

“The intention is to ensure that our schools are bullying-free, and there is no substance abuse and crime. We believe schools that experience these ills do not perform well, and some learners end up misbehaving, disrupting classes and dropping out of school,” said Tau.

Social Worker Geoffrey Nemagovhani delivered education on substance abuse. He said drugs changes the behaviour or the way a child sees things.

“As soon as you experiment with drugs, everything changes. Drugs have different types, there are stimulants such as cocaine, which gets you the hype and energy. This drug creates dependency to a point that you will never function without using it.”

“There are also depressants, some call it downers, which is alcohol. Excessive use of alcohol affects the body. We do not encourage learners to drink alcohol. Even if a family member leaves a half empty bottle of alcohol, do not drink it,” said Nemagovhani.

Alwande Zwane (13), a Grade 7 learner said bullying often occurs within or outside the school premises.

“Bullying can be physical, verbal or emotional. At school, I mostly experience emotional bullying from fellow learners where you find your peers refusing to play with you.”

“I want to encourage my fellow learners to report bullying occurrences to parents and teachers. Children who are bullied often have unexplainable injuries, some fake illnesses to avoid going to school,” said Zwane.

Social Workers in Nigel Office will continue to engage schools within their cluster that are ravaged by these ills because they believe learners bully others because of peer pressure, some have difficulties at home, while others solely doing it for attention.

They will garner more stakeholders to forge relationships in improving the quality of services to schools.