KZN departments combine in walk against bullying
AN AWARENESS campaign walk against bullying and also touching on the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign was held on the Durban Beachfront on Saturday.
The walk brought together concerned parents and victims who have experienced bullying who held placards and posters. Joining the walk was provincial head of justice Pat Moodley, Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister John Jeffery and KZN Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Elaine Zungu.
Zungu said said they had participated in the walk because the departments realised that bullying needed to be addressed and that there needs to be awareness on this issue which also has an effect on children. Zungu said the National Prosecuting Authority and Department of Justice set up the event.
She said bullying manifests in various criminal offences. For example, there will be an assault where a child would be bullied and thereafter an assault takes place. Zungu said it could be common assault, grievous bodily harm or crimen injuria.
“We look at the motivation that caused that criminal offence. We will continue with the awareness sessions.
“We are calling on parents to play a more active role on the subject matter. The responsibility cannot be left to law enforcement,” she said.
Zungu said schools needed to have awareness sessions continuously on bullying.
“When it comes to bullying, it is not only about dealing with the victim, but it is also to address the perpetrators. The root causes of why a person has decided to bully a colleague, child, a friend, a partner needs to be determined. Sometimes we are not dealing with the root causes. If we want to make an impact … the stakeholders need to truly interrogate the subject matter,” Zungu said.
“The law enforcement departments need to really engage and work together on the issue of bullying. Social media has become one of the biggest platforms where bullying occurs. We should also be using social media platforms to create awareness,” she added.
Jeffery explained that there were specific provisions in the Cybercrimes Act (2020) on cyberbullying. Jeffery said the issue was particularly with school bullying, and if possible, they would like to “find alternate ways to resolve the problem than sending the bully to court”.