The incident is alleged to have taken place on December 9 when the school held a matric farewell function. The suspect appeared in the Krugersdorp magistrate’s court on December 23 for a bail hearing which was postponed to Thursday.
During Thursday’s court appearance, he abandoned his bid for bail and the matter was postponed to March 8 to allow investigations to continue. The court was told the man had a theft conviction in 1984.
NASGB general secretary Matakanye Matakanya said SGB members should be vetted because they are public representatives
“Governing body members work with children [and] therefore they must be subjected to criminal checks. The regulations must be changed to allow criminal checks to be conducted.”
Those found to have criminal records should be banned from serving on governing bodies.
Khume Ramulifho, the DA’s shadow MEC for education in Gauteng, said: “The head of department has powers to remove members who are accused of wrongdoing or dissolve the SGB . Listing sex offenders will assist in ensuring they are prevented from serving on governing bodies.
“The idea is to ensure those who serve do so in an open, fair and transparent way. We want the parent leadership to protect the interest of the learners.”
Nndi Madzena, chair of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa in Gauteng, said governing body members and student teachers should be vetted.
“Any person interacting with learners should be vetted. Student teachers are required to be at schools for different periods over three years, yet they are not vetted.”
The arrest of the SGB member in Gauteng should be an eye-opener for governing bodies and education departments.
Jaco Deacon, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools, said they have been advising members for a long time to vet not only teachers but all staff, including hostel staff, groundsmen, sports coaches and volunteers
“If people have access to children there is an obligation on the governing body to check whether they are suitable to work with children.
“I am shocked to see governing bodies don’t do that and they’re so happy when people volunteer that they expose children. That shouldn’t be the case.”
He said “sexual predators are looking for opportunities to get closer to children and the best place for them is at school or at a hostel or sports match”.
Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said it will be difficult to vet all members of SGBs because there are between 235,000 and 260,000 in almost 25,000 schools.
“It will be a costly exercise vetting every person on the governing bodies. We struggle now to vet teachers who work directly with learners who are vulnerable.
“While it is a good cause, logistically it will be a nightmare, especially if you look at the duration of SGB members in office. By the time we finish the vetting process they will be leaving.”
As part of the criteria for election onto governing bodies, “we say there shouldn’t be a criminal record against you”.
“We believe it should assist in discouraging people with criminal records from standing for election. But where incidents like the case in Gauteng happen, the law must take its course.”
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Criminal checks proposed for parents wanting to serve on SGBs
Image: Picture: 123RF/BELCHONOK
The National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) has called for parents wanting to serve on school governing bodies (SGBs) to be subjected to criminal checks.
A member of the Magaliesburg Maths, Science and ICT School of Specialisation SGB in Gauteng was arrested on December 10 after he allegedly sexually assaulted a grade 12 pupil.
School governing body member abandons bail in sexual assault case
The incident is alleged to have taken place on December 9 when the school held a matric farewell function. The suspect appeared in the Krugersdorp magistrate’s court on December 23 for a bail hearing which was postponed to Thursday.
During Thursday’s court appearance, he abandoned his bid for bail and the matter was postponed to March 8 to allow investigations to continue. The court was told the man had a theft conviction in 1984.
NASGB general secretary Matakanye Matakanya said SGB members should be vetted because they are public representatives
“Governing body members work with children [and] therefore they must be subjected to criminal checks. The regulations must be changed to allow criminal checks to be conducted.”
Those found to have criminal records should be banned from serving on governing bodies.
Khume Ramulifho, the DA’s shadow MEC for education in Gauteng, said: “The head of department has powers to remove members who are accused of wrongdoing or dissolve the SGB . Listing sex offenders will assist in ensuring they are prevented from serving on governing bodies.
“The idea is to ensure those who serve do so in an open, fair and transparent way. We want the parent leadership to protect the interest of the learners.”
Nndi Madzena, chair of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa in Gauteng, said governing body members and student teachers should be vetted.
“Any person interacting with learners should be vetted. Student teachers are required to be at schools for different periods over three years, yet they are not vetted.”
The arrest of the SGB member in Gauteng should be an eye-opener for governing bodies and education departments.
Jaco Deacon, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools, said they have been advising members for a long time to vet not only teachers but all staff, including hostel staff, groundsmen, sports coaches and volunteers
“If people have access to children there is an obligation on the governing body to check whether they are suitable to work with children.
“I am shocked to see governing bodies don’t do that and they’re so happy when people volunteer that they expose children. That shouldn’t be the case.”
He said “sexual predators are looking for opportunities to get closer to children and the best place for them is at school or at a hostel or sports match”.
Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said it will be difficult to vet all members of SGBs because there are between 235,000 and 260,000 in almost 25,000 schools.
“It will be a costly exercise vetting every person on the governing bodies. We struggle now to vet teachers who work directly with learners who are vulnerable.
“While it is a good cause, logistically it will be a nightmare, especially if you look at the duration of SGB members in office. By the time we finish the vetting process they will be leaving.”
As part of the criteria for election onto governing bodies, “we say there shouldn’t be a criminal record against you”.
“We believe it should assist in discouraging people with criminal records from standing for election. But where incidents like the case in Gauteng happen, the law must take its course.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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