A Mitchells Plain teen nearly killed herself after she became a victim of cyber bullying.
The meisie says classmates took pictures of her and posted them on Facebook where they made fun of her braids and teeth.
The Grade 8 Tafelsig High School pupil says the bullies are her “best friends” but they turned into tormentors when they embarrassed her on social media, making gat of her “ou braids and vrot tanne”.
The post was also turned into a meme and shared on WhatsApp.
Her angry mother says they reported the matter to the school principal but she claims he refused to address it.
The 14-year-old tells the Daily Voice: “We took some selfies in class and then my friend posted it on Facebook and the rest shared it with captions like ‘al dra jy ou braidings’ and ‘skaars have hair on your head but you keep you the s***’.”
The girl says she told her parents about the bullying and was so upset that she wanted to take her own life.
“I was going to drink 20 allergy tablets but then thought I won't let these girls be the cause of my death,” she says.
“I decided to take a stand and speak out about my experience.
“My braids were done two months ago and have some regrowth at the roots, and this was funny to them.
“I usually wear a scarf to cover the roots but they saw it and now it’s a joke.”
The girl has been home since last week and refuses to go back to school.
Her mother says: “It’s her exam time but I can’t send her back to class yet because she is still traumatised.
“We won’t change schools because of this, they need to apologise and learn a lesson from this.
“The principal told us to report the matter to the WCED and refused to give us a hearing.”
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond says after the Daily Voice alerted them to the matter, the department contacted the school.
“The school has indicated that they have liaised with the parents of the learners accused of bullying and an anti-bullying intervention has been arranged.
“The learners were also asked to apologise to the victim, which they did.
“The learners were asked to apologise publicly in class as well, which they did.
“The learners were asked to also retract the remarks from social media and apologise publicly on social media – which they did.
“The parent was informed of the sanction and accepted the sanction. SAPS have also been to the school to investigate the matter.”
But the girl’s mother says the school is lying and the bullies have yet to say sorry to her daughter.