Every time the Daily Dispatch exposes a story involving the sexual abuse of minors, we ask the provincial education department what they have done to fulfil their legal duty to ensure the culprits are brought to book. Without fail, we are met with a stony silence.
When a teacher is involved, their response is that since the teacher has been dismissed, they are no longer responsible.
But this is not only against the law, it also shows a callous disregard for the physical and mental health of our children and ensures they are able to get an education without being traumatised into leaving school.
It does nothing to stop the perpetrators from abusing more children.
Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima’s claim that their responsibility ends when they fire the teachers is nothing short of astonishing.
“The guys are dismissed and therefore are no longer our employees,” he said.
Nearly 365 teenage girls give birth in SA every day, with 10 of those daily births to mothers younger than 15, with the highest number of underage mothers from the Eastern Cape.
These shocking statistics, plus the department’s failure to adequately act against abusers, also entrenches the province’s poverty levels and makes sure the cycle continues, with underage mothers denied an education while trying to bring up children of their own.
As Dr Lesley Ann Foster, executive director of Masimanyane Women’s Rights International, has said of this topic previously: “We are failing the children of our province.”
But encouraging children to be celibate does nothing to dissuade or prevent their abusers from targeting more young victims
In 2021, the new National Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy was introduced.
This obliges schools to introduce measures to keep pregnant pupils in class and integrate young mothers into the schooling system after giving birth to ensure they do not lose out on an education.
The department’s answer to this has been support groups and “various programmes to teach and inspire learners how best to avoid pregnancy and sexual activity at a young age, as well as projects to enrich these learners and keep them at school”.
But encouraging children to be celibate does nothing to dissuade or prevent their abusers from targeting more young victims and instead perpetuates the continuation of sexual violence against the vulnerable.
Until our government stands up to start protecting and stop neglecting young victims instead of sweeping immoral actions against children under the carpet, the cycle of painful abuse will continue and the province will stay at the top of the country’s list of shame.
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