Videos of a boy being assaulted outside a school by other learners and where a gunshot was fired have gone viral.
The incident took place last Wednesday outside Plumstead High School.
In the videos, a violent brawl between two boys break out and soon several boys are seen hitting the one boy as other pupils scream around them.
An unknown man, who intervenes, is also seen firing a gunshot into the air as he apparently tries to stop the fight.
Ricardo Theunissen from Bayview, the father of the 15-year-old boy who was allegedly attacked by the Grade 12 learners, says he was shocked to learn about the assault.
The scholar transport driver says when he arrived at the school to pick up his son and other children, he was informed that his son was being attacked.
The dad says: “I don’t know if that was the vice principal standing there, but I told him he was standing there while five grade 12 learners were on top of my son.”
Ricardo says shortly after the incident they went into the office with two of the alleged attackers and he was told a meeting would follow.
Ricardo says: “Seeing your child cry over something you couldn’t protect them from – it breaks you in half.”
It is believed the fight stems from an incident that happened two weeks prior.
The father explains: “A Grade 12 learner attempted to enter their [Grade 9] classroom and another learner blocked him. A day or two later, this boy grabbed my son by the front of his shirt and another boy smacked him. The whole thing then went out of proportion from there.”
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Millicent Merton says earlier on Wednesday, there was an altercation between Ricardo’s son and a Grade 12 learner during break time.
She says this escalated after school while the Grade 9 boy was waiting in his transport.
Merton clarifies: “He was forcibly removed from the taxi by the Grade 12 boy.
“At the same time, an individual unknown to the school inserted himself into this second altercation between the learners and then fled.”
Merton did not comment about the gunshot but says no one was harmed and that the Deputy Principal has since met with the parents of the boys involved.
But Theunissen says his son was not in a taxi at the time, and that the second meeting with the deputy principal never materialised.
He says he fears for his son’s life and wanted to open a case, but Grassy Park SAPS failed to assist them.
Ricardo adds: “My wife went to the police station that same evening and was told that the school must handle it.”
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi encouraged the family to report their grievances.