A Season of Silence, A Story of Gratitude To our Mzansi Matters readers, Over the past few weeks, I have been absent. I have not written as regularly as I usually do, and I know some of our readers may have wondered why the silence lasted so long. The truth is simple, but deeply personal: life pressed pause. My attention, my energy, my prayers, and my heart were needed at home. My wife has been through one of the most difficult medical journeys our family has ever faced, and during that time, writing articles and keeping up with normal routines became impossible. Not because Mzansi Matters became unimportant, but because the people we love sometimes need us in ways that nothing else can compete with. For months, she suffered with severe pain and discomfort. We went through the process many families know too well: appointments, explanations, medication, uncertainty, and the hope that each new answer would finally be the right one. At different stages, we were told it could be IBS or som...
Even When We Don’t Know All the Facts, We Know This Much: Silence Hurts Children We need to begin with honesty. We do not know all the facts surrounding the letter written by a learner at De Kuilen High School. We do not know every conversation that took place, every report that may or may not have been logged, or every attempt that may have been made behind the scenes. But uncertainty does not require silence. Because when harm is visible — when patterns of fear, absenteeism, withdrawal, or distress begin to show — noticing alone already places a responsibility on all of us . Bullying Is Not Always Hidden — We Often See the Signs Bullying does not always announce itself dramatically. More often, it shows up quietly: A child who stops attending regularly A learner whose marks suddenly drop A once‑confident student who becomes withdrawn A child who avoids certain spaces or times of day A pattern of “incidents” that never quite become “cases” In many schools and communities, these signs ...