When a mother from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape shared the story of how her seven-year-old daughter, known as Cwecwe, had allegedly been raped at school, it sparked national outrage.
Thousands of people took to the streets across the country, while hundreds of thousands signed a petition demanding #JusticeforCwecwe.
The young girl’s story made international headlines too, with the case now receiving the highest priority from government and law enforcement.
The #JusticeforCwecwe protests were reminiscent of the 2018 marches in honour of Eastern Cape-born UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana, who was killed in a post office in Cape Town.
The outrage expressed in both the Cwecwe and Uyinene cases demonstrate how South Africans feel about the endemic violence against women and children in the country.
Even the sanctity of schools has been rocked by violence against the vulnerable.
Eastern Cape MEC Fundile Gade, in a report tabled in the Bhisho legislature last week, revealed that nearly 30 teachers in the province had been implicated in sexually related offences.
The charges include sexual assault of pupils, sexual harassment of pupils and colleagues or having sexual relationships with pupils.
The cases are at various stages: some have been found guilty and dismissed, others reported to the police while some are yet to face the music.
The young victims will be the ones left to carry the emotional scars from the abuse into their adulthood.
Allegations of this nature are serious in general, but when it involves teachers and principals in whose care children are entrusted, it is a betrayal that undermines the foundation of the entire education system.
Our schools are meant to be safe havens, where teachers help shape young minds and children are encouraged to thrive and grow.
To children from broken homes, some teachers even provide emotional support and stability to help them navigate the challenges of life.
The report by Gade is worrying. The number of teachers implicated may seem small given how many schools there are in the Eastern Cape, but even a single case is one too many.
It breaches the professional code of ethics as laid out by the South African Council for Educators; it is criminal.
The young victims will be the ones left to carry the emotional scars from the abuse into their adulthood.
The teachers found guilty of the allegations highlighted in Gade’s report should face the full might of the law. We cannot allow our schools to be compromised as safe havens for children.
Daily Dispatch
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