The number of sexual misconduct cases reported to the South African Council for Educators (SACE) rose quite dramatically from 92 in 2019/2020 to 169 in 2020/2021.
Recently, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister Angie Motshekga revealed that 191 cases of sexual misconduct have been reported for the 2021/2022 financial year.
Some experts in the education sector believe that young girls at school are the main victims of teachers' sexual misconduct.
In March 2023, Motshekga indicated that out of the 191 teaching professionals that were reported, only four of them had been held accountable.
In a statement, Motshekga has shared:
The Council has submitted 19 names of teachers who were removed from the roll of educators.
SACE has found all 19 of the teaching professionals to be guilty, hence a sanction has been imposed on them to be removed from the educator's registry indefinitely.
According to Basic Education, learners who have been sexually assaulted by these teachers are as young as 12 years old.
One of the teachers had a sexual relationship with a grade 10 learner from the Nkgopoleng Secondary School. This relationship resulted in the teacher impregnating the learner who later gave birth in 2015.
It is for this reason that this educator has been removed from the register indefinitely for two offenses, i.e. sexual relationship and impregnation of a learner. A 54-year-old Ntwampe Technical High teacher was found guilty of forcing two learners to strip naked as a punishment.
Whilst SACE also received a report of a 12-year-old learner who had been locked up in a storage room overnight at the Blackhill Primary School. The 30-year-old teacher who has been reported to have been the perpetrator has been sanctioned from the teacher's registry.
What Prevents Parents From Reporting Cases Of Misconduct In Schools?
Cases of violent crime experienced or perpetrated by learners should be reported to the local authorities such as the police station, but some parents may not be aware of the reporting procedures or may not have the financial means to pursue legal action.
However, some parents may not report these cases due to fear of retaliation, lack of trust in the authorities, and a belief that nothing will be done to address the problem.
Legal and Ethics Manager at SACE, George Moroasui pointed out some families are complicit in the cases going unreported to protect the identity of their child for fear of being victimised.
These are the contributing factors to the underreporting of assault cases in South African schools.
