A Free State farm schoolteacher who allegedly assaulted seven children with a vehicle fan belt near Dealesville appeared in court on Monday.
A Bultfontein Magistrate Court official said the hearing involving Ruth Moshe (49) was postponed to October 13 for further investigation. She was released on bail of R1 000.
Moshe faces seven charges of assault.
The alleged incidents happened at the Rakonyane primary farm school, with about 25 schoolchildren. They were divided into two classes earlier this month.
Moshe was the only teacher at the school.
The children who were assaulted, aged between seven and 10, were all from one farm, Meerlandsvlei, near Dealesville where their parents worked.
The incident apparently happened after the teacher warned the children in one class to be quiet.
They allegedly did not listen and the teacher asked older children in the class to hold on to the seven pupils by their arms and legs, while she hit them with a fan belt over their backs.
Free State education officials visited the school shortly after the incident and Mushe was sent to another school, with a headmaster and other teachers, in the northern Free State region. — Sapa