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Minister Watched Bullying Video With Trepidation
posted (June 14, 2024)
It's the bullying incident that happened in the small southern village of Santa Cruz - but the deliberate cruelty of the act on a humble standard 6 student caused outrage across the society.

And tonight, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police are weighing in on it.

We start with the Home Affairs Minister who said that he watched the video unfold with an awful sense of dread:

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"It was long. I felt it was long and all I could do in that six minutes was pray that it did not get violent. Because there were numerous times that he went and he stopped and he went in front of the young man and intimidated him."

"And I said to myself, I'm hoping this young man walks away and nothing happens. I didn't know what to expect but when he hit him, I'm sure all fathers felt that, you know, I have two sons, one 16 and one 13 and of course you're going to put your son in the shoes of that young man."

"Because my sons are the same, they're not going to interfere with anybody and they will walk along their merry way. But if somebody is just completely bullying you and harassing you, at some point you thought maybe this young man would have fought back but that's not in his nature and you could tell that and the young men saw that weakness and they saw that vulnerability and they took advantage of him."

"And so I think we have to send the loudest of messages when it comes to bullying because we are fortunate that we have video footage of it. We wouldn't even have believed it if somebody said it. But it happens every single day at almost every single primary and high school that this type of bullying takes place."

"I know that the police were very swift in picking up the young man, the aggressor, the one who committed the offense. I believe he has already been charged with harm and then subsequent to that now, if that was not bad enough, then you see his family members going to try to intimidate the family of the young man who was hit."

"Now you can see where it is that this young man's behavior comes from if his family is willing to go and intimidate this other family for a clear violation of this young man's rights. That to me is absolutely unacceptable."

"I know the department has already again moved swiftly to pick up these individuals. They are currently in detention. I think it will depend on whether the family wants to press charges, but at the very least, if they do not press charges, I have asked the ComPol to please have an intervention because that type of behavior cannot be countenance whatsoever."

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