The girl who hanged herself at a Kraaifontein school two weeks ago did not leave behind a suicide note, her father revealed at her funeral.
15-year-old Tamar Charlie Snyman was laid to rest on Friday.
Tamar, who was a top student at Scottsville High School, hanged herself in the infirmary and her body was found by a teacher.
There was not a dry eye in the Reformed Old Apostolic Church as her white coffin was brought in by her family as pupils from her school and her friends formed a guard of honour.
Neighbour Percy Hael said: “Tamar wouldn’t want us to be sad, because she was always such a jolly person. Sy was die blom van haar familie. She was a wonderful friend and we are going to miss her very much.”
At the Kraaifontein cemetery, the pupils carried the coffin to the burial site and seven white doves and white balloons were released at her gravesite.
Her parents, Arnold and Tamsin, and her only sibling, older brother Thurston, were comforted by family members, their mood as sombre as the weather as soft rain fell.
Addressing the mourners at church, Arnold, 51, said: “We would like to thank everyone who has supported us through this difficult time.
“We were very proud of Tamar, she was a good daughter who did so well at school.”
Earlier, the father said he believed his daughter killed herself because the family was poor and sukkeling because he could not find a job for three years.
The girl’s ouma told the Daily Voice that Tamar had left a letter in which she stated that she would miss her family and friends a lot.
But Arnold says Tamar did not leave behind a suicide note.