Tales of classroom sex predators
26 April 2008, 16:25
By CLAYTON BARNES
In a shocking admission, the National Association of School Governing Bodies this week admitted that sex predators do "slip through the cracks" and could end up teaching your child.
This comes just days after the family of an 11-year-old girl, who was allegedly kidnapped and indecently assaulted by a teacher in 2006, decided to sue the Western Cape Education Department for thousands of rands in damages.
The teacher was arrested and charged with indecent assault and kidnapping shortly after the incident in December 2006, but the charges against him were provisionally withdrawn last September after the girl, who is now 13, broke down in court when she saw him.
The teacher, who allegedly indecently assaulted the girl twice in the school's computer room, apparently returned to the Cape Town school shortly after being released, while the girl, still a pupil at the school, battled to cope with her school work.
She was later enrolled at another school and is currently in Grade 8.
Noluthando Ntlokwana, an attorney from the Women's Legal Centre who has represented the family in the case, said the prosecutor at the time declared the girl unfit to testify and the school abandoned a disciplinary hearing against the teacher.
Ntlokwana said the Women's Legal Centre had already given the department notice of its intention to sue and was preparing to go ahead with the case.
"This matter should have been dealt with correctly, and the Education Department should have made sure the teacher was banned from ever returning to the school," she said.
But the president of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, Elphus Maseko, said the final decision on whether or not to appoint a teacher with an indecent assault history rested with the principal and the governing body. The decision depended on the school's policy and how long ago the offence was committed.
"Sometimes people with fresh charges against them do slip through the cracks, but teachers applying for governing body posts should be honest enough to state on their CVs whether they've been implicated for indecent assault or any form of sexual abuse in the past," said Maseko.
Governing body teaching posts are funded by school fees and not the education department.
No teacher can be appointed if he or she is not registered with the South African Council of Educators.
The provincial chairman of the governing bodies association, Mayenzeke Sopaqa, said more than 10 cases of indecent assault were currently being investigated against male teachers in the Western Cape.
He added that teachers were "not entirely to blame".
"This goes both ways. The way pupils, especially at high schools, dress and their actions give rise to these things."
Education MEC Cameron Dugmore's spokesman Gert Witbooi said 14 teachers were charged with sexual indecency in the Western Cape last year.
National education department spokeswoman Mirriam Moswaane could not provide the latest national figures.
She told Weekend Argus all teachers had to be registered with the South African Council for Educators and any teacher found guilty of misconduct was reported to the professional body.
"They are then struck off the roll and may not practise again in this country," said Moswaane.
The new Child Protection Act will make it an offence for people found guilty of unlawful acts against children to work with or have any contact with minors.
Childline's national co-ordinator, Joan van Niekerk, said cases of indecent assault by teachers had increased over the past five years. The response of the Education Department and the justice system to these "highly sensitive cases" was "appalling".
Witbooi said Dugmore was not aware of the incident involving the 11-year-old girl, and unless the parents or principal came forward, the department could not start an investigation.
In a shocking admission, the National Association of School Governing Bodies this week admitted that sex predators do "slip through the cracks" and could end up teaching your child.
This comes just days after the family of an 11-year-old girl, who was allegedly kidnapped and indecently assaulted by a teacher in 2006, decided to sue the Western Cape Education Department for thousands of rands in damages.
The teacher was arrested and charged with indecent assault and kidnapping shortly after the incident in December 2006, but the charges against him were provisionally withdrawn last September after the girl, who is now 13, broke down in court when she saw him.
The teacher, who allegedly indecently assaulted the girl twice in the school's computer room, apparently returned to the Cape Town school shortly after being released, while the girl, still a pupil at the school, battled to cope with her school work.
She was later enrolled at another school and is currently in Grade 8.
Noluthando Ntlokwana, an attorney from the Women's Legal Centre who has represented the family in the case, said the prosecutor at the time declared the girl unfit to testify and the school abandoned a disciplinary hearing against the teacher.
Ntlokwana said the Women's Legal Centre had already given the department notice of its intention to sue and was preparing to go ahead with the case.
"This matter should have been dealt with correctly, and the Education Department should have made sure the teacher was banned from ever returning to the school," she said.
But the president of the National Association of School Governing Bodies, Elphus Maseko, said the final decision on whether or not to appoint a teacher with an indecent assault history rested with the principal and the governing body. The decision depended on the school's policy and how long ago the offence was committed.
"Sometimes people with fresh charges against them do slip through the cracks, but teachers applying for governing body posts should be honest enough to state on their CVs whether they've been implicated for indecent assault or any form of sexual abuse in the past," said Maseko.
Governing body teaching posts are funded by school fees and not the education department.
No teacher can be appointed if he or she is not registered with the South African Council of Educators.
The provincial chairman of the governing bodies association, Mayenzeke Sopaqa, said more than 10 cases of indecent assault were currently being investigated against male teachers in the Western Cape.
He added that teachers were "not entirely to blame".
"This goes both ways. The way pupils, especially at high schools, dress and their actions give rise to these things."
Education MEC Cameron Dugmore's spokesman Gert Witbooi said 14 teachers were charged with sexual indecency in the Western Cape last year.
National education department spokeswoman Mirriam Moswaane could not provide the latest national figures.
She told Weekend Argus all teachers had to be registered with the South African Council for Educators and any teacher found guilty of misconduct was reported to the professional body.
"They are then struck off the roll and may not practise again in this country," said Moswaane.
The new Child Protection Act will make it an offence for people found guilty of unlawful acts against children to work with or have any contact with minors.
Childline's national co-ordinator, Joan van Niekerk, said cases of indecent assault by teachers had increased over the past five years. The response of the Education Department and the justice system to these "highly sensitive cases" was "appalling".
Witbooi said Dugmore was not aware of the incident involving the 11-year-old girl, and unless the parents or principal came forward, the department could not start an investigation.
- This article was originally published on page 5 of The Cape Argus on April 26, 2008
Pretoria
