Youth seek justice for Lufuno
THE ANC Youth League in Tshwane and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) has taken the plight of the Limpopo learner Lufuno Mavhunga to the doorstep of the Department of Basic Education in Pretoria.
Lufuno, a 15-year-old learner at the Mbilwi Secondary School, near Thohoyandou, committed suicide after a video showing her being assaulted by a fellow learner went viral.
ANCYL activist Lindokuhle Xulu said, apart from demanding justice for Lufuno, the demonstration was also aimed at highlighting mental illness and related problems.
Xulu said they wanted to propel the department towards the implementation of an integrated school health programme.
He said they believed that if public schools had interventions to address mental wellness, as in private schools, learners would not have to endure what Lufuno endured, with no action taken until it was too late. “If this child was in a white school, she would not have died as those schools have all the infrastructure that speaks to mental wellness and psychological interventions.”
Xulu said while the department had a policy in place in collaboration with the departments of Social Development and Health, it lacked the ability to implement the policy.
“We are here to demand the immediate implementation of the policy and emphasise that mental health needs have to be its core focus as we know many more teenagers are dying and committing suicide.”
According to Xulu, the department had to look at creating places of learning, support and care for children, which only exists in theory.
He said the departments lacked co-ordination. However, they had indicated that the new district model would assist them to fast-track co-ordination among the departments and the various government levels.
“We can only hope it does not become just a talk shop as the model would be able to put all services in a district command council so the department does not do things separately.