The tragic suicide of Lufuno Mavhunga on Monday April 12, wretched many South Africans’ hearts.
Her tragedy has rightfully ignited outrage over a myriad of topics; from the devastating impacts of cyberbullying to the futile actions that some schools and parents take towards this.
Lufuno’s school knew about the bullying, which started on Facebook but took severely limited action to ensure that it would not happen again.
The Mavhunga family says the school could have acted promptly by alerting them to the bullying incident that #LufunoMavhunga had to endure prior to committing suicide https://t.co/gainxw0nb8. pic.twitter.com/KM2W6s78qH
— POWER 98.7 (@Powerfm987) April 15, 2021
It has been confirmed by Polly Boshielo, Limpopo Basic Education MEC, that the bullying of Lufuno began on social media. The teachers were aware of this. However, their response was merely to call the girls together and tell them to “have peace and bury the hatchet”.
WATCH: Polly Boshielo, Limpopo Basic Education MEC talks to @eNCA
@eNCA #lufunomavhunga pic.twitter.com/LgcsYrbJWY
— Botshelo (@Botshelo_SA) April 15, 2021
Ironically, it is that same social media site and many others, especially Twitter, that are now standing up for Lufuno.
People are furious over the fact that the school could have done so much more to help the girl, as well as the fact that there are not nearly enough programmes in place in South Africa to educate, create awareness towards or simply help those who are victims of the internet vile.
Picture: Digital art by @layoverart