The grandmother of an 11-year-old pupil allegedly instructed by his principal to retrieve a cellphone from a pit latrine in the Eastern Cape has described him as a “monster”.
The man was arrested and is expected to appear in the Tsolo magistrate’s court on Wednesday. He has also been suspended, after being accused of instructing the child to get inside the latrine and search through faeces with the promise of being paid R200. He can only be named once he has appeared in court.
“That man is evil ... ngusathana ongafunekiyo ebantwaneni [he is the devil himself who should not be allowed near children at all] ... If ibingowakhe umntwanana lona wenzi lanto ebezakuthi [if it was his child who was made to do what he did to my grandson, what was he going to do]?” the distraught woman said on Tuesday.
To protect the identity of the child, she cannot be named.
Department of education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima told DispatchLIVE that the school head would also face a disciplinary hearing on April 8.
“We are swiftly trying to finalise the investigation ... while he is still suspended. For now, we are finalising this process, trying to ensure all goes well in a short space of time,” he said.
Provincial police confirmed the 49-year-old principal of a junior secondary school in Ugie was arrested on Monday.
“The child was allegedly tied with a rope on the upper body and lowered in the toilet pit by other learners in an effort to retrieve a cellphone that fell into the pit latrine,” said Capt Khaya Tonjeni.
The grade four pupil, who lost his mother in 2018, returned home from school on March 1 smelling of human excrement, said his 76-year-old grandmother.
She noticed something was wrong when her grandson went straight to his room to take off his school uniform, she said.
“Even though he had changed I could still smell the stench from him. He didn’t even want to eat ... I found that strange from him, as the first thing he does when he comes home is to eat before he changes.”
She said the principal apologised a week later. “I have accepted his apology, but I still do not want him close to any child.”
Children’s rights activist Petros Majola called for the school principal to be sacked, reported Daily Dispatch.
Provincial education spokesperson Vuyiseka Mboxela said 508 schools in the Eastern Cape have no toilets and 1,598 rely on pit latrines.
Education MEC Fundile Gade described the incident as disturbing and a disgrace.
“It’s beyond disgrace that such an incident of inhumanity can be claimed against a school principal who we view as a parent and a mentor to everyone in that community,” he said.
Gade added that his department had dispatched officials from the district office, labour relations and psychosocial support to the school and the pupil’s home.
Daily Dispatch reported last year on the findings of two surveys conducted by education lobby group Equal Education (EE) between May and July. They reflected the desperate circumstances at hundreds of schools and the hopelessness felt by pupils and principals.
According to figures EE obtained through correspondence with the department of education, 756 schools in the province had inconsistent water supply.
The South African Human’s Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating the incident, Eastern Cape regional manager Loyiso Mpondo confirmed on Tuesday.
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