Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
The Eastern Cape legislature this week reacted with shock at a damning report showing horrific details of sexual abuse, rape and exploitation of teenage pupils at provincial schools.
The report, which was compiled by the legislature’s standing committee on education, revealed how teachers at a number of provincial schools used their positions and money to solicit sex from teenagers, especially those from poor backgrounds.
The report said a number of teachers impregnated pupils and in one case a teacher allegedly made 20 girls pregnant.
An HIV-positive teacher at a Cradock school raped three pupils with the intention of infecting them with the deadly virus, the report claimed.
The teacher, whose name is known to the Mail & Guardian, is still teaching despite the shocking charges against him, the 500-page report said.
The teacher allegedly started his raping spree in November last year. The report claims one of his victims, a 15-year-old grade 11 student, was raped on two occasions. The last incident happened in February this year.
After the second rape, the report said, the accused teacher allegedly told his victim: “I am HIV-positive.” He then gave her four tablets to swallow.
According to the report, the blood samples taken from the teenage pupil have confirmed that the she is HIV-positive.
The report says the accused teacher has also infected two other pupils at the school.
According to the report, the school’s committee conducted a public hearing and was shocked to learn that no disciplinary action had been taken against the teacher.
“The above cases were reported to the principal and the school governing body during May 2001 whereupon the principal was expected to prepare a report and submit it to the Department of Education,” the report read.
“In inquiring about this matter, it was evident that the principal never bothered to report the case to the [education] department in order to allow internal disciplinary processes to be instituted against the said teacher.”
According to the report, the “lack of action [against the teacher] by the school principal has placed the [education] department in poor light.
“In August the report on the hearing at [the school] was submitted to the education MEC and the acting superintendent general for their immediate intervention.”
The report said disciplinary processes should be instituted against the teacher and the committee kept informed about the case.
“The said educator should be removed from the school with immediate effect and criminal charges should be imposed in coordination with the relevant departments,” the report said.
The report said the provincial education department should introduce a programme of life skills at schools to help curb sexual abuse. The committee investigated 34 schools in the province.
“The problems of sexual abuse at the school is [sic] rife and immediate interventions are needed in this regard. The process of dealing with perpetrators in terms of departmental disciplinary procedures is too slow.
“This state of affairs has placed the department in a poor light and has compromised confidence in the ability of the department to reprimand its employees.”