A Northern Cape maths and science teacher has been fired for allegedly kissing a pregnant pupil.
Mziwamadoda Ngubo lost his fight to keep his job this month. He had been teaching at the Northern Cape school since 1998.
Ngubo was slapped with charges three charges — for allegedly sexually assaulting a pupil by “inserting his tongue in the mouth” of the grade 12 pupil, contravening the Educators Act and conducting himself in an improper and unacceptable manner — in June 2022.
The incident allegedly happened on March 3 2022 in Ngubo’s office.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the arbitrator, advocate David Pietersen, found him guilty on August 5 and recommended his dismissal with immediate effect.
The pupil testified that she had gone to Ngubo’s office to explain why she was not at school the previous day. Ngubo was her class teacher.
“The learner became emotional,” the ruling reads.
“She stated that she told [Ngubo] about her doctor’s visit of the previous day and how she was found to be pregnant. The learner stated that she became emotional at that point in time and was in tears.”
The pupil testified that Ngubo “then grabbed the back of her shoulder, and rubbed it, as a way to comfort her”.
“However, she stated that [Ngubo] went further than that. She stated that [he] then kissed her and inserted his tongue inside her mouth. The learner stated that she then angrily pushed [him] away from her and asked him what he was doing, while she ran out of the office.”
The pupil ran to her classroom and told her friends and the deputy principal what had happened.
“She stated that upon her arrival at home, she then told her aunt about the incident, who did not waste time and reported the matter to the police the following day, whereafter the criminal matter ensued,” the ruling reads.
“The learner testified that she did not go to school the following day for fear of the employee. She stated that her concentration levels at school dropped and was also scared of losing her unborn child due to the stress. The learner stated that she no longer wanted to be in the same room with the employee.”
The deputy principal corroborated the pupil’s version. But Ngubo said he was shocked to learn about the allegations against him.
“[He] testified that he was shocked, shivering and had goosebumps during the last period when the acting principal called him in and told him about the allegations,” the ruling reads.
“He stated that he cannot remember what his answers to the questions were, which were posed to him by the acting principal and colleagues in the office. The employee stated that he has no previous misconducts on his records and that the learner was quiet and disciplined except for the day when she did not attend his lessons on, March 3 2022. He stated that he was arrested two days later.”
Ngubo testified that he was convicted in the criminal court in February 2023.
He claimed that “the learner did not stop crying during the comforting process in his office”. He stated he does not know why the pupil would make such allegations against him and why [the deputy principal] would tell a lie”.
But Pietersen found Ngubo guilty on the three charges.
“Mr Mziwamadoda Theodore Ngubo is found guilty of the three charges levelled against him, by the superintendent-general [of the] Northern Cape department of education,” Pietersen ruled.
“The mandatory sanction of dismissal is imposed with immediate effect on Mr Mziwamadoda Theodore Ngubo. The general secretary of the Education Labour Relations Council is directed to serve this award on the South African Council of Educators.”
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