#LufunoMavhunga: “Our nation needs more than hashtags, action is what we need”
Sister of the late Lufuno Mavhunga, a Gr 10 learner who took her own life after a school bullying incident went viral, called for leaders in South Africa to come up with solutions to stop such incidents from reoccurring.
LIMPOPO – “Thank you for reminding the nation, thank you for reminding us how beautiful we all are. Your wise words will forever be written in our hearts.”
With these words, Ronewa Mavhunga delivered an emotional eulogy to her sister, Lufuno (15), who was buried on Saturday, following an apparent bullying incident last Monday, and thereafter took her own life.
Mavhunga was featured in video footage that went viral on social media, in which a crowd of learners are cheering on a verbal attack, which later turned physical, on the late teenager.
“The hashtags are trending all day long. But I wonder, how long are we going to create hashtags just to wake up the following day with another hashtag that reads #Justicefor…?
“Our nation needs more than hashtags, action is what we need. We need our leaders to come up with solutions. We need to raise our collective voices in saying, ‘Enough is enough’ now,” she commented.
The Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Thembi Siweya, who also attended the funeral held at Tshirenzheni village, said the only way in which the late teenager could be honoured, was to correct the wrongdoings of those responsible for the attack on her.
Siweya, who also delivered an eulogy, said classrooms and schools should be areas where learners are safe, and areas that are conducive for teaching and learning and teaching.
“We want the Department of Education to develop programmes and work with the School Governing Body (SGB) and teachers to make schools safer,” she commented.
Throughout the proceedings, fellow learners and classmates of the deceased comforted each other, visibly distraught over events that occurred at Mbilwi Secondary School last week.
Also read: Limpopo teen commits suicide following bullying incident
Lufuno belonged to the nation
The Mavhunga family spokesperson and brother of the late Lufuno, Kenneth Mavhunga, addressed mourners at the service, saying after the news of his sister’s death, the nation supported the family in abundance.
“We received messages and phone calls from people we have never heard of. While we envisioned her funeral, we soon realised this would not be possible. Lufuno was not only our daughter, Lufuno was not only our sister, Lufuno belonged to the nation.”
The funeral was arranged with the support of many people who wanted to extend a hand to the family and for that the family is grateful, he said.
Representing learners, Dembe Mutshinyalo said the death of her close friend came as a shock. “Life will never be the same without Lufuno in the Gr 10 class and we will miss her charming face and that handsome young girl,” said Mutshinyalo.
Gr 10 learner in custody
A 15-year-old learner from the school was taken into custody on Wednesday, 14 April in connection with the bullying incident. She appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Children’s Court on Friday and the case was postponed to Tuesday where it was rolled over to Thursday, 22 April for formal bail application.
Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, the Spokesperson for the National Prosecution Authority in Limpopo said today in court the defence submitted an affidavit and closed its case. “The state called the investigating officer who testified that the child must remain in custody explaining that it is not safe for her to return to the community.”
The state opposed bail and the hearing was postponed to 28 and 29 April.
She added that this offence falls under schedule two and the case will be dealt with in accordance with the Child Justice Act. “The child in conflict of the law is still under custody and will remain at the youth centre,” she concluded.
