Empathy, compassion and Ubuntu are South African values we need to share with our kids and future generations. After this week’s headlines, that need is great. It starts with us.
Cape Town, South Africa (22 October 2025) – School bullying has unfortunately made national headlines again. It’s important that it has, because it comes with the reminder that kindness is a powerful resource. One that schools, families and friends need a whole lot more of.
If you haven’t read the shocking headlines already, we need to share some information with you for context.
A 16-year-old cancer survivor was among nine pupils allegedly assaulted by senior boys at school this week. A video circulated online showing the teen being beaten with belts, sticks, and a hosepipe while begging for the attack to stop. It was absolutely shocking. The boy, who only finished chemotherapy in January, is now pleading to be homeschooled.
It left most of us shaken and upset, but it has also opened up space for conversations on how we as communities respond to bullying. That’s why we’re sharing this today.
It all starts at home with you.
Oneziwe Jackson knows the pain of being singled out at school, and she’s using her story to call for Ubuntu.
“When I was in secondary school, I played shotput and was doing really well. We were preparing for regional games and had to camp before traveling. My mum couldn’t afford to buy me new clothes, so I washed my old ones and my cousin [lent] me some of hers, they were still in good condition. When we got to the camp, I quickly noticed that most of the other kids had brand-new clothes…even pyjamas! I didn’t have pyjamas because at home, old clothes became pyjamas. But at camp, that difference made me stand out, and not in a good way. I was teased for how I looked, for my clothes, and for not ‘fitting in,’” shares Oneziwe, in a Facebook post.
She remembers how isolating that was.
“It was one of the saddest experiences of my childhood…No one wanted to be seen with me. I soldiered on, played my games, but something in me broke. When I came back home, I had shrunk inside. I believed the teasing. I believed something was wrong with me. For years, I refused to be seen, not just physically, but emotionally. I stopped playing. I stopped showing up..”
Her story cuts to the heart of what so many young people face every day at school.
“And I realise now, many of our children are carrying the same pain, just wrapped differently. They’re being teased not for old clothes, but for not having the latest phone, sneakers, or fashion. They’re being made to believe that their value lies in what they own, not in who they are. We’re losing our children to anxiety, depression, and even suicide… not because they are weak, but because the world has disconnected them from their roots, from Ubuntu, from identity, from belonging,” shares Oneziwe.
Her message, shared in the wake of what happened this week, is one that lands exactly where it needs to.
“Let’s bring back Ubuntu. Let’s raise children who know who they are beyond what they wear or own. Let’s create spaces where they can see themselves as enough, rooted, loved, and whole. Because when we heal ourselves, we heal the generations after us.”
This week was a painful reminder of the damage bullying can cause. That is why it’s so important that we use our voices to root our communities, schools and families in empathy, compassion and Ubuntu. As South Africans, we need to honour these good values and pass them on everywhere we can.
That’s how you start a wave of love and compassion.
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