The Eastern Cape education department on Friday revealed reports indicating that two suspended male educators were suspected of targeting up to 12 girl pupils between the ages of 17 and 18.
And a high-placed source told the Dispatch that one staff member had allegedly been in sexual relationships with six different schoolgirls.
A teacher and principal from a high school near Dutywa have been placed on precautionary suspension to enable the alleged victims and witnesses to express themselves without fear of intimidation.
“We are horrified by this matter. Imagine two teachers investigated for sexual misconduct involving 12 learners in one school,” MEC Fundile Gade said.
“It is clear that there are serious challenges at the school that we need to attend to as a department.
“We will deploy our counsellors to assist in the meantime while the disciplinary processes continue.”
He said it was unacceptable and that this kind of conduct had to be rejected and condemned by everybody.
It was gender-based violence targeting vulnerable pupils.
The Mbhashe Teenage Pregnancy Project has also been redirected to the school to ensure more education and support for all pupils.
Gade called for more community support for pupils, especially during this period of midyear examinations.
“This period needs a renewed commitment towards the safety of our children.
“We have to do everything possible to restore the faith and trust of the victims in the system, both as parents and the government.
“We promise to ensure the law is applied and that the culprits face the wrath of the law,” Gade said.
In terms of the Employment of Educators Act, there are six types of serious misconduct specific to teachers and five of those include sexual assault, sex with a pupil, serious assault, drug possession and getting a pupil involved in any of these offences, which now carry a lifetime ban from re-employment.
That means teachers that are found guilty of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment of pupils, can never work again at a public school.
The new terms and conditions of employment of educators were gazetted in 2021 to deal with cases of sexual misconduct in schools.
Provincial Sadtu secretary Malibongwe Ntame said: “As Sadtu, we always condemn allegations of this nature, sexual relations, favours or harassment of pupils.
“We believe that teachers are second parents to pupils therefore they should be protectors against such.”
Ntame said this had shocked the union and in their meetings, they had always emphasised the code of conduct that was adopted that condemned relations between pupils and teachers.
“We are against this as the union.
We are the only one that has signed the Education Labour Relations Chamber [decision that] whoever is found guilty should be written off.”
ELRC resolution 3 of 2018 provides for compulsory inquiries by arbitrators in cases of disciplinary action against educators charged with sexual misconduct in respect of pupils.
“In this matter, the process must unfold and as a union in disciplinary hearings, we go there to observe that the teacher is guillotined fairly and we do not open our mouth.”
Children’s rights activist Petros Majola of the Khula Community Development Trust said: “We have once proposed to the department of education that we would like to go to the school to educate about the matter.”
He said that even though teachers were aware of the law that prohibited sexual relationships between pupils and teachers, pupils needed to also be made aware.
“Hopefully, this is a learning curve for the education department that what was once suggested a couple of years ago now needs an intervention.
“Pupils do not know of the laws put in place for teachers, pupils need to know that having a sexual relationship and falling pregnant can end a teacher’s career,” he said.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.