Dismissed sex pest teacher still on payroll

A teacher who has been found guilty of sexually harassing a pupil at his KwaZulu-Natal school has continued receiving pay that has amounted to more than R1.2-million in the past two years.

The principal - whose name is known to The Times - has been on suspension since November 2014 but continues to pocket his R35336 a month salary.

This was confirmed by the education department in an official response to questions asked by DA MPL Mbali Ntuli.

This principal was one of 33 suspended staff who pocketed a combined R9.3-million since November 2014.

He had been, according to the official's response, "found guilty, appealed the sanction of dismissal" and had been paid R1236760 for the period. His official charge is "sexual harassment".

He is not alone.

Four other principals in the province are on precautionary suspension for sexual offences.

Fifteen other staffers, ranging from educators to cleaners to security guards, are also suspended on sexual offence charges.

Thirteen other disciplinary charges include gross insubordination, corporal punishment, financial mismanagement, physical altercations and the unauthorised selling of a state vehicle.

"You would think that steps would be in place to protect our children and get these predators prosecuted, but that doesn't seem to be the case," said Ntuli.

She said that while the huge sums of money being paid to errant teachers was a worry, the "biggest problems" were the prevalence of sexual offences and the length of time it was taking for the disciplinary processes to be dealt with.

"We will be following this up," said Ntuli.

TMGDigital reported on Wednesday that, according to the SA Council of Educators 2015-2016 annual report, 97 cases of sexual misconduct were investigated across the country.

Behind corporal punishment sexual misconduct was the second-most common offence committed by teachers.

The department's response also revealed that teachers racked up 6257 days off due to suspension, sick leave or absenteeism between November 2014 and November 2016.

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE