Alleged bully killer case postponed

An East Rand Grade 11 pupil accused of shooting dead a fellow pupil over bullying appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Phindile Louw said the matter was postponed to November 29, for a formal bail application.

The 18-year-old Phineas Xulu Secondary School pupil was arrested on Tuesday.

He allegedly used a firearm belonging to his mother, a metro police officer, to shoot dead Grade 10 pupil Nkululeko Ndlovu, when he and his friends confronted him in class.

On Thursday, The Star newspaper reported that no one at the school was prepared to shed a tear for the bully, and that the general feeling was that he got what he deserved.

"We are relieved that he is dead. We will now eat our food and spend our money," one pupil told the newspaper.

Ndlovu's family denied he was a problem pupil and said they were not aware he was a bully.

The Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party called on the education department to help find the causes and the solutions of bullying.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) said Ndlovu's death was a symptom of a lack in discipline.

"Educators are often unable to correct the behaviour of learners because they simply refuse to attend detention or cannot do so because they rely on scholar transport, and physical correction has been outlawed," ACDP Gauteng leader Lydia Meshoe said in a statement.

"The result is a lack of accountability for bullies and no protection for their victims."