Mum hires bodyguard after schoolboy’s repeated beatings

A pupil at one of South Africa’s oldest schools tried to bring a bodyguard to lessons after he had been beaten by other boys for flouting its traditions.

The 16-year-old’s mother hired protection after two violent incidents at Grey College, which is known as ‘‘the Springbok factory’’ for producing a record number of players for the national rugby side.

Deon Scheepers, the school principal, refused to allow the guard to accompany the boy to lessons so his mother has now asked that he complete his work from home ‘‘for his own safety’’. In one incident after he had walked on a lawn reserved for older pupils the boy’s head was hit so hard that his eardrum was damaged.

His plight has divided present and past families from the traditional boarding school in Bloemfontein, which was opened by Sir George Grey, the British governor of the Cape Colony, in 1855. Its traditions, which include a unique handshake and the separation of English and Afrikaansspeaking boys, make it unusual in modern South Africa.

Another pupil said in a letter to Beeld, an Afrikaans newspaper: ‘‘We don’t bully one another, but we sort one another out. We respect the traditions and rules, though we differ sometimes it is because we come to Grey, not the other way round. It is wrong that the child’s eardrum ruptured, but he had to see it coming.’’ The incident resulted in community service punishments for two pupils.

The reason for a second attack on the boy this month was not made public but ended in him being kicked and hit by a barrage of rugby balls, and his mother hiring a guard to chaperone him.

Supporters of Grey College have condemned the mother, a doctor, for ‘‘demeaning’’ the school’s traditions. ‘‘This is a sacred place and sacred places have sacred traditions and we can all see this is not the ideal school for your child,’’ one, of many, said.