South African embassy under fire after teacher’s assault in Shanghai goes viral

A South African kindergarten teacher, Nolusindiso Hleko, has shared a harrowing account of her alleged assault by her employer in Shanghai, China, in a YouTube video that has since gone viral. The incident has since sparked outrage and raised questions about the response of the South African embassy in China.

In a video uploaded to YouTube titled “My Worst Year Abroad,” Hleko stated, “On Wednesday, August 23, during a disagreement, the HR manager at my job, a guy, punched me in the face.”

She further detailed her traumatic experience, saying, “I screamed and I was trying to get my cellphone so I could take pictures and videos of what was happening. Instead, he grabbed my phone and said he didn’t have my phone anymore… I was running in the passage of this kindergarten trying to get help.”

Hleko recounted how one woman who could speak English was able to call the police, “When we arrived at the kindergarten, they gathered everything that belonged to me on the table, telling me the reason they were preventing me leaving is because they wanted me to calm down so they can call the police to resolve the issue.”

Hleko later provided another update revealing her disappointment with the South African embassy. She stated, “To those who have asked me to contact my embassy, I did. They were the first number I called when this happened but sadly they don’t even have an emergency number, so I wasn’t able to get hold of them that day and when I finally did, they told me they would call me back and never did.”

The now-viral video has led to widespread concern and criticism of the South African embassy’s response.

South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is now set to question officials at the South African embassy in China, according to a report from TimesLive.

A DRICO spokesperson advised South Africans abroad, saying, “If South Africans in another country suffer abuse or are subjected to harm, they should report the matter to the police in that country and inform the embassy.” In Hleko’s case, however, she did both and was still left feeling “powerless” in the situation.

As of the latest reports, Hleko is safe in Germany while her viewers are calling for her to “name and shame” the school in question.