WATCH | Pupil deregistered after bullying leads to long hospital stay

A grade 10 pupil was deregistered from school after being hospitalised for more than six weeks due to a mental breakdown linked to alleged bullying at school.

The 18-year-old pupil from Tshepo Themba Secondary School in Sebokeng, on the Vaal, experienced a mental breakdown a week before schools reopened for the third term on July 21.

WATCH | A Grade 10 pupil was deregistered from school after being hospitalised for more than six weeks following a mental breakdown linked to alleged bullying at school. Read the full story here: https://t.co/p4NYElhdej pic.twitter.com/nDxL1WKZun— Sowetan (@Sowetan1981) September 2, 2026

The teen’s mother, who cannot be named to protect her child, said she noticed about a year ago that her son was behaving out of character every time he returned home from school.

“Since I spend a lot of time with him, every time he came back from school he would speak to me harshly and be aggressive. I couldn’t understand what his problem was until I actually asked him.

“I waited for him to cool down, and he would just say it was the school. He told me the teachers made him feel like he was nothing in front of other pupils. He also told me that pupils took his lunchboxes and stole his books, while the teachers did not do anything,” said the mother.

She said her son eventually reached a point where he despised going to school and asked to be transferred to another school because the bullying had escalated to the school bus he used.

“I was with him when he started having a mental breakdown. He began breaking things and hurting himself. I decided to call an ambulance and his sister, and they tied him up so he could stop hurting himself as he was badly injured and covered in blood.”

The teenager was then admitted to a psychiatric facility at Sebokeng Hospital and has been there for the past six weeks.

“The doctors said he was mentally disturbed and is experiencing depression and anxiety … although he is getting better,” his mother said.

The pupil’s sister said when she went to the school to ask for her brother’s report card, she was told that he had been deregistered because he had been absent for 30 days.

“The teachers told me they were glad that he hadn’t been coming to school and that they were at peace. They said they had deregistered him because of absenteeism and that the school policy only allows a child to be absent for no more than 30 days,” she said.

She said the doctor’s letter she later presented to the school was dated July 31, while the school had only been open for two weeks.

The family moved to Savannah City two years ago after securing a house there, forcing the pupil to change schools.

The concerned mother is pleading with the department to at least transfer her son to a different school so he can continue with his education.

“My boy wants to go back to school because he wants to be a soccer star after matric. He loves football with all his heart,” she said.

Sowetan sent questions to Onwabile Lubhelwana, spokesperson for Gauteng education MEC Lebogang Maile, to comment on Tuesday morning but he had not responded by the time of publishing the article.

According to the National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) in the Sedibeng region, it is not the school’s decision to remove a pupil from its database, but the responsibility of the district.

NASGB chairperson Thabiso Radebe said he had written to the district and discovered that the official responsible for handling the policies of Tshepo Themba Secondary School was on leave.

“This issue has dragged on for more than it should have. It was not fair for the school to deregister the learner without sitting down with the parents to address any problems related to his learning capacity.

“The school itself does not have proper leadership, and it is something that we are currently facing right now.”