​The 2023 Gauteng academic year has been plagued by a series of violent incidents on school’s premises that have resulted in the deaths of pupils.
In Ekurhuleni, 18-year-old Shawn Mphela, a pupil from Geluksdal Secondary High School, was stabbed to death following a fight with his schoolmates.

Again, in Sedibeng a 17-year-old, Dinokaneng Secondary High School student, Tumelo Jwili, was also fatally stabbed by schoolmates. Both cases were because of fights between the victims and their schoolmates, following incidents of bullying by the pupils. Bullying is defined as repeated aggressive behavior characterized by a power imbalance and the intent to cause harm. 

Bullying can be violent and explicit, or it can be subtle enough that teachers or parents are not aware of it until it is too late. Bullying can also cause great despair in the victim and as such is a gross violation of their basic rights to safety, dignity, equality, life, and education, as enshrined in the Constitution and the Children's Act 38 of 2005.

According to crime figures, Statistics South Africa (StatSA) in the first quarter of 2022, 19 child murders took place at institutions of learning. This includes day care facilities, primary and high schools, and tertiary institutions. Following these violent events and the worrisome statistics, the emphasis on child protection must be greater than before.

As part of its child protection mandate, the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD), together with the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), employs several interventions to deal with violent events in schools and to curb bullying.

At the forefront of such interventions, GDE has developed a National School Safety Framework to serve as a management tool for all stakeholders in schools, to identify and manage risk and threats of violence in and around schools.

To support and strengthen these interventions, GDSD has a Prevention and Early Intervention programme. According to the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Johannesburg Region, School Intervention Social Worker, Brenda Maluleke, the department deploys Social Workers to schools based on a referral from GDE when there is need for intervention at schools.

The program identifies a group in the school that is at risk or has had incidents of bullying. The programme teaches learners what bullying is, how to identify it and what the consequences are for both the victim and bully.

Maluleke added that pupils found to be bullies are enrolled in a diversion program that offers them therapy and helps them understand the consequences of their actions. This program is to ensure that these pupils do not end up committing acts that could put them at odds with the law.

She further indicated that schools mirror the community thus bullying and violence in schools indicate an even larger issue of violence in South Africa. It will take a concerted effort from teachers, parents, the government, and the private sector to eliminate violence in South Africa and thus bullying in schools.