A teacher who manhandled a pupil after he allegedly refused to hand over a hat will be charged.
Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed on Wednesday that charges against the man, from Sijabulile Secondary School in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, have been drawn up and will be served on him this week.
This follows the emergence of a video shot by a pupil showing the teacher, whose name is known to Sunday Times Daily, repeatedly pushing and shoving a Grade 9 pupil around the classroom.
The teacher grabs hold of the 14-year-old boy while trying to forcefully remove the cap from him. He pushes the teenager towards the chalkboard and as the boy moves away, he grabs him and pushes him again. The teacher can be seen holding the boy by the neck and pushing him away, while other pupils file into the room.
The incident took place on April 14.
Said Mabona: “We are deeply appalled by the disturbing video incident and necessary action will be taken against the perpetrator.”
The father of the boy said he was “very glad” the teacher is being charged for manhandling his son.
“My child is going to be free now because he won’t be beaten.”
According to minutes of a meeting of the school’s safety committee on April 16 , a copy of which has been seen by Sunday Times Daily, the teacher said he was looking for the chalkboard duster when he saw the boy and two of his friends wearing hats in class.
“I ordered them to hand [them] over and two of his friends obliged, but he refused. We struggled to and fro over the cap. He became violent, screaming that the cap was not his.”
The teacher said he almost fell “upon being pushed by him”.
“Then I eventually overpowered the learner ... I wanted to treat learners equally, that is why I insisted on having his hat.”
“I realise that at that moment I got carried away, but I totally apologise. I don’t hate him. The boy is smart, but was won over by elderly boys. He must change to be a better person,” the teacher said, according to the minutes.
In another incident at the school on April 22, the deputy chairperson of its governing body, Sphiwe Hlatshwayo, chased a group of pupils while allegedly wielding a sjambok.
One of them, a pregnant teenager, fell during the incident and had to be hospitalised at Thelle Mogoerane hospital in Vosloorus.
The principal told staff on Monday that the girl was still in the facility.
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