South Africans are a society of revengers, yet we think we are a nation of justice. If South Africans were a nation of justice we would live justly and not be plagued with the social ills that are choking our existence daily. We would live as law-abiding citizens with an understanding of the sort of society we are trying to build. We would build measures to prevent others who seek to distract or destroy this vision. There would not be responsive but preventive measures, severe measures even, to deter those who would corrupt, distort or challenge our collective vision of a society at peace with itself and its choices.
South Africans agreed by majority to abolish corporal punishment. In 1995, S vs William and others, the Constitutional Court ruled that corporal punishment must be abolished, done away with, no longer permissible by law.
On April 25 2022 it was reported that Section27 was taking the South African Council of Educators (Sace) to court for extreme leniency and lack of sympathy and sensitivity towards the victim, while protecting the assailant and not providing rehabilitative measures. On March 3 2025, it was reported that the court had ruled in favour of Section27 and ordered the Sace to improve its sanctions measures and be more victim-centric. This follows two incidents of severe abuse in the form of corporal punishment, one in which a grade 2 child was beaten with a PVC pipe, and in another a grade 5 pupil was struck until their ear bled. Yet those two perpetrators got away with fines of just R15,000 each.
What has our inability to create serious measures that protect our vulnerable groups resulted in? Chaos and pain, utter injustice. Abuses continue and more victims with harsher stories emerge on a daily basis. Yet we see very little being done to prevent, discourage and punish bad behaviour.
On Monday it was reported in The Sowetan that an educator from a school in Protea North was arrested for lashing a grade 11 child 92 times for writing a long essay. The South African Police Service confirmed the teacher’s arrest on Monday, and that the teacher would be appearing before the Protea magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
These are the results of flimsy consequences to protect society. When people are no longer motivated by consequences to not harm others, because the punishment is lenient, then the law disintegrates and loses meaning.
If the government is serious about protecting its citizens and especially its vulnerable citizens, it must demonstrate in action and law the value it places on the well-being of its citizens. So far the government has failed to implement serious measures to curb corporal punishment in schools. There has been zero evidence of the department of education, at any level, taking a hard line with long-term rehabilitative outcomes. This kind of behaviour continues unabated or with poor sanction standards.
What will it take for the government to take an offensive stance towards corporal punishment? Must someone die first? After all, condolences and camera moments while mourning is where it thrives.
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