A still from the 25 second video of two Table View High School pupils fighting
A Parklands father says he is struggling to pay for medical bills after his son urinated blood following a fistfight outside Table View High School, last week.
The father says his son, who is in Grade 8 at the school, was assaulted by another Grade 8 pupil following a row in which his son accused the other boy of stealing his phone.
According to the father, two fights broke out between the boys on Thursday August 5. The first was inside the school, where they argued over a packet of chips and where the father’s son, realising his phone was missing from his blazer pocket, accused the other boy of taking it. The second fight happened after school, outside the gate, where the same boy picked a fight with his son.
This second fight was caught on camera by another pupil. The clip is 25 seconds long.
The father said his son had been in “excruciating pain” on the morning of Friday August 6 and had urinated blood. He had rushed his son to CliniMed in Parklands, where doctors had scheduled skull and chest X-rays for the boy.
“He was not treated for the blood in his urine and will be going for a check-up later this week,” the father said.
His son's lips were swollen and he had suffered scarring to his face, he said.
Tabletalk has a copy of a transferral letter written by a CliniMed doctor.
The father said that at first he had not wanted to press charges against his son’s alleged attacker but had done so because it had angered him to see his son in pain and struggling to breathe.
“I did not see this video until Saturday morning August 7, and it was unbelievable to see my son being dragged across the tarred road like that,” he said.
Table View police spokeswoman Captain Adriana Chandler said police were investigating a case of assault, registered on Friday August 6.
The father said he wanted the other boy’s parents to cover his son’s medical bills because he could not afford them. He said he planned to discuss that matter at a meeting to be held at the school today, Wednesday August 11.
He said his son was recovering at home but refused to attend school and wanted to be transferred to another school.
Western Cape Education Department spokeswoman Bronagh Hammond said the first fight had allegedly been over a packet of chips while the second had happened after the father’s son’s phone had allegedly been stolen.
She said four other pupils had been involved in the incident, and three were facing disciplinary action. The pupil who had been caught on camera allegedly assaulting the father’s son would be suspended but would not be held accountable for the alleged theft of the phone, she said.
Ms Bronagh said the father’s son would not be facing disciplinary action.
“A mediation meeting between all four learners has already taken place, to which they all apologised for their roles in the various altercations, and apologies accepted. Trauma counselling has been arranged for the alleged victim, and further counselling has been arranged for two of the other learners in terms of bullying and anger management. The school has been in contact with all the parents involved and will be discussing the way forward this week,” she said.