'Poor handling' of theft, rape cases at Tshwane schools draws outrage

The schools could have done more to help.

This is according to angry pupils in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Tshwane, in the wake of two incidents — the theft of electronics by a pupil and the rape of a grade 11 girl — in the past week. Such is the level of outrage that pupils and the Congress of SA Students (Cosas) have planned protests.

Even though both incidents took place off school premises, Cosas, in particular, has criticised the schools for their “poor handling” of the incidents.

In the first incident, a matric pupil was arrested over the theft of nine PC hard drives and six routers at Tebogwana High School, where he's enrolled. The pupil was arrested on May 12 just outside the school's premises, according to Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona.

"[The] pupil was arrested outside the school premises by police, then the principal informed the parents,” Mabona told TimesLIVE.

Gauteng police spokesperson Capt Mavela Masondo confirmed this, saying the 19-year-old was arrested after he was linked to the crime. The value of the stolen items is an estimated R150,000. 

“Investigation is still under way to determine if there are other suspects involved in this case,” Masondo told TimesLIVE.

The NPA confirmed that the 19-year-old will appear in court on May 31 for a bail application. The prosecuting authority confirmed he was accused of stealing six rooters and nine smartboard hard drives from Tebogwana high school.

In the second incident, a grade 11 pupil was allegedly raped by a taxi driver last week on her way to school.

According to Mabona, the incident was on Tuesday morning and was reported to the school by the pupil upon her arrival. The matter was also reported to the police, who arrived at the school later in the day to take her statement.

“District social workers have [since] been informed so that they can provide support. They have communicated with the pupil and the parent and are providing support,” he confirmed to TimesLIVE.

Both incidents have sparked outrage with Cosas, which raised an issue with the poor process followed by both schools in the wake of the incidents.

Cosas blasted Tebogwana High over the alleged assault of the pupil by the school's SGB chair, and threats made against the pupil. The organisation led a march to the school on Tuesday.

Mabona said the department was not aware of the alleged assault but it would “investigate and take appropriate action”.

"[At Tebogwana] we're calling for the dissolution of the SGB because they're making the administration of justice more difficult in this case,” Cosas Tshwane region secretary Boipelo Moleko said.

Cosas also raised an issue with the failure of the second school to immediately offer support to the traumatised grade 11 pupil after she reported her ordeal. 

Moleko said they would head to the school on Friday because “there was no sense of urgency from the school”.

“They failed the pupil. We're also going to the taxi association [to which the driver belongs] because they haven't taken any action against the driver,” he said.

TimesLIVE