- The ANC Youth League in Bhisho wants the school governing body of Bhisho High to be dissolved after a pupil took her life due to bullying.
- The league also wants the bullies to be removed from the school permanently.
- Bizarrely, the league wants ANC ward 43 councillor Dumisani Mahanjana to get a report on all school activities going forward.
An ANC Youth League branch in the Eastern Cape is calling for the entire school governing body (SGB) of Bhisho High to be dissolved after a pupil took her life, allegedly after relentless bullying at the hands of teachers and peers.
Lathitha Nako, 16, died by suicide, allegedly after teachers and pupils at her school called her a witch because she had an ancestral calling.
Two teachers have since been placed on special leave while the education department has said it plans to turn the group of pupils accused of bullying into "buddies" of other pupils.
The youth league's Leon Meyer branch in ward 43 in the Eastern Cape capital Bhisho also wants the school to take ANC ward councillor Dumisani Mahanjana into confidence about anything that happens at the school.
This was one of the league's seven demands in a memorandum handed over to the Eastern Cape education department's chief director Mbulelo Mpupu during a picket outside the school on Monday.
Interestingly, councillor Mahanjana was heckled and booed by a crowd for making "no sense" in his speech during the demonstration.
The league also wanted the pupils and two teachers said to have teased Nako to be removed from the school permanently.
More than 2 000 angry people, including pupils, residents and sangomas, showed up to demand justice for Nako.
The league also wanted a permanent principal to be appointed and the current acting principal to be overlooked for the position.
It called for the department to provide psychological support to all pupils affected by the tragic incident.
ANCYL Leon Meyer branch convenor Sikelelwa Makapela said:
"Ukuthwasa (ancestral calling) is not witchcraft. It is so bad for a black person to undermine their own culture and religion like that. As the youth league branch, we could not let this pass because Lathitha Nako was a young person," Makapela added.
Meanwhile, the EFF in the province also handed over a memorandum of demands to the education department and called for the pupils to be removed from the school.
The party also wants the Department of Education to bear the funeral costs and provide counselling for Nako's classmates and family.
The EFF's memo was signed and handed over to Mpupu by an EFF PR councillor in the Buffalo City metro Kholeka Mpupha.
They also called for the acting principal to be suspended.
Nako died at Bhisho Hospital on Wednesday night after falling ill at her Tyutyu Location home at around 20:00.
Her family said they were awaiting the post-mortem results.
The Eastern Cape education department said it was investigating the incident.
Some of the members of the SGB could not be reached for comment at the time of writing. Their response will be added once received.
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