Human Rights Commission to investigate Parktown initiation abuses
Parents of pupils at Parktown Boys' High School in Joburg have broken their silence on "a culture of violence" at the prestigious school's hostel - but many have defended the practice of initiation, saying it builds character.
But parents are so nervous of victimisation that even though, in some cases, their sons' experiences happened up to five years ago, they are too scared to be named.
On Monday, Pene Kimber broke the silence when she called The Star to reveal an initiation ceremony in which her 17-year-old son was dragged onto a playing field in the middle of the night, stripped naked and had Deep Heat rubbed onto his genitals.
He was then lined up and beaten with cricket bats, golf clubs and hockey sticks. Finally, he was whipped by the head boy until he bled, she said.
Kimber took her son out of the school in the middle of the night, after it was alleged that he was victimised because he had told his mother about the initiation.
Kimber says she has now received threatening phone calls and SMSs from unknown people. One repeatedly called her a "bitch" and another warned: "You haven't heard the last of us."
She is also being blamed for putting some children at the school in jeopardy because she spoke out.
"This whole thing is quite nerve-racking," Kimber said. "My son is sitting at home without a school, and nobody from the school has given me any real answers."
Kimber laid charges with the police against the Grade 12s and the teachers she believes were involved in the incident.
She reiterated that her son was injured in the attacks and treated at Sunninghill Hospital.
This was denied on Talk Radio 702 yesterday by a parent whose son had been involved in the beating.
Another parent said her son told her about the initiation, confirming Kimber's claim.
"While we have swallowed a lot of incidents in the past, we are not happy with this. This was serious and uncalled for," the mother said.
She indicated that she and her husband were thinking about whether to take their son out of the school, but it was a big decision as he was nearing the end of his school career.
Another parent said his 16-year-old son had been "subjected to so much abuse, physical and emotional", at the hands of prefects that he was in tears every Sunday afternoon, and pleaded with them not to take him back to the school. "The whole thing is disgusting and archaic," the parent said.
Other parents phoned with a litany of complaints. One woman said her child's nose had been broken after repeated bullying and that he had started showing signs of extreme distress.
Her son was removed from the hostel - as were several others, she said.
The Star phoned the principal, Tom Clark, several times yesterday but he did not return the calls.
Earlier this week, Clark said the boys had got out of hand and were punished, and that the incident was over. He also said the incident happened at the hostel, which was administered separately from the school.
Several other parents called Talk Radio 702 yesterday, both condemning and defending the initiation at the school.
A Grade 11 pupil, who went through the initiation, called in to say the initiation had made the pupils bond and that they accepted the beating because "we want to be stronger".
"We are not a girls' school, we are a boys' school," he told the station.
The Gauteng Education MEC's spokesperson, Mbela Phetlhe, asked parents whose sons had suffered abuse to report the incidents to the MEC.
"Come to the 10th floor at 111 Commissioner Street and tell us what is happening."
Phetlhe said the department's officials were surprised because the MEC, Angie Motshekga, had visited Parktown Boys' High. "We will probe this. We will send our inspectors to the school," he promised.
Jody Kollapen, the chairperson of the SA Human Rights Commission, said the commission would investigate the incident.
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