School angers mother after girl found tied to toilet pipe

The mother of a Somerset West primary school pupil found bound behind her back to the toilet pipe with the belt of her uniform in the girls’ toilets last week says her daughter has not received counselling after her terrifying situation. 

The upset mother posted on Facebook how she, police and the school’s caretaker, found her daughter tied up to the toilet following a frantic search.

Yesterday, the mother told the Cape Times she was disappointed about how the school had handled the matter and felt there was a lack of support for her daughter and her family. They had a meeting last week with the school governing body and the principal, and someone from Safe Schools who was there on another matter spoke to her, but her daughter hasn’t been given counselling she said. 

Her concern now too was for all the children at the school, and called on them to relook their security measures.

According to the mother, her daughter said she went into the toilets, where she waited for a long time for a cubicle. When she eventually entered the cubicle, the girl says she was met by a person in black, who warned her to be quiet before tying up her hands. The man apparently left after other learners left the toilets.

The mother said what upset her the most was the idea that everything was deemed to be fine because her daughter was found physically unharmed, but she was afraid to go to the toilet alone at home and at school but WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond denied the mother’s claims and said the girl received counselling from the department and from the police.

Edited by: Aneeqa du Plessis