Gauteng has dismissed the most number of teachers for misconduct, report shows

Most teachers who have been fired for serious misconduct in the year to March are from Gauteng. 

Almost three quarters, or 152, of the 205 educators who were booted out between April last year and March in seven provinces were from Gauteng. 

It also recorded the highest number of teachers being dismissed between April 2021 and March 2022, 97 of the 176 coming from the province.

These figures are contained in Gauteng education department’s annual report, as well as those of Western Cape, Northern Cape, North West, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. 

Limpopo provincial education department spokesperson Mike Maringa said their annual report has not yet been printed “due to outstanding issues to be finalised” by their head of department and the auditor-general’s office. 

The Free State education department did not respond to repeated requests for a copy of their annual report. 

According to the Eastern Cape education department’s annual report, no teachers have been dismissed over the past four financial years. 

The last time teachers were shown the door in the Eastern Cape was when seven were booted out between April 2018 and March 2019 for serious misconduct. 

Some of the outcomes of the 466 disciplinary hearings conducted in Gauteng included 119 suspended without pay; 102 fined and 66 not guilty. 

The types of misconduct cases addressed during the Gauteng disciplinary hearings included 144 for assault or corporal punishment, 159 for improper conduct, 11 for sexual misconduct and 11 for theft. 

Meanwhile, the outcomes of 105 misconduct cases in the Eastern Cape included: correctional counselling: 6; final written warning: 10; fines: 8; suspension without pay: 7; and 74 with no outcome.

The number of teachers dismissed in Western Cape dropped by 14 from 52 between April 2021 and March 2022, to 38 between April 2022 and March. 

Teacher dismissals in KwaZulu-Natal dropped from eight to six, while North West dropped from eight to three. Six teachers were fired over the past two financial years in Mpumalanga, while five were given their marching orders in Northern Cape between April 2021 and March 2022. None was fired in that province in the past financial year.    

The Gauteng education department requested more time to provide a comprehensive response, which will be included once it becomes available. 

While an increase may be seen as alarming, we are also pleased that it is being reported so that the necessary support can be provided to pupils and the necessary disciplinary action taken against the perpetrator.

—  Western Cape education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond

Commenting on the increase in assault cases from 84 to 97, Western Cape education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they encouraged pupils to report any abuse so it could be investigated. 

“While an increase may be seen as alarming, we are also pleased that it is being reported so that the necessary support can be provided to pupils and the necessary disciplinary action taken against the perpetrator.” 

Prof Loyiso Jita, dean of the education faculty at the University of the Free State, who was responsible for producing teachers, said he was very disappointed by the high number of misconduct cases nationally. 

“I suspect that Gauteng has good structures for reporting of misconduct, a more assertive populace in terms of rights and responsibilities, and less tolerance for misconduct.” 

He said these three “ingredients” were perhaps lacking in the Eastern Cape and to varying degrees in the other provinces.

“That violent crimes in society are generally higher in Gauteng could explain the high assault numbers. This is a societal problem where South Africans seem to believe that violence is a way to resolve challenges. South Africa is a scarred nation.” 

He said schools and universities needed to intervene and develop an ethic of care. 

Prof Sylvan Blignaut from Nelson Mandela University said procedures for disciplinary hearings are in place in Gauteng and “that is perhaps not the case in other provinces, notably the Eastern Cape”. 

“I just think the Eastern Cape does not have their procedures in place.” 

Referring to the high number of corporal punishment cases and those involving improper conduct, he said the schools were a microcosm of society. 

“South Africa is regarded as a violent society and this will be reflected in the cases reported in schools.”

Commenting on the high number of teacher dismissals in Gauteng, Paul Sauer, CEO of the South African Teachers’ Union, said one factor that stood out was that misconduct might be more readily reported in urbanised areas. 

“Another is the availability of resources to pursue and prosecute allegations.”    

He said that while the 144 corporal punishment cases and 159 improper conduct cases in Gauteng was unacceptable, “it is more often than not a symptom of the degrading state of pupil discipline in the schooling environment”.

“Educators are frequently overwhelmed by unruly to downright violent pupil behaviour, and with little to no support in dealing with this problem.

“It can, on occasion, happen that some teachers resort to unlawful measures out of pure desperation. But it remains unlawful, unacceptable and expressly prohibited by both the Employment of Educators Act and the South African Schools Act.” 

Corporal punishment was banned in 1997. 

Commenting on not a single teacher being dismissed in Eastern Cape, he said: “Though one would hope that it is a mere reflection of outstanding educator discipline in the province, a more realistic approach might need to look further into this claim to test its veracity.” 

Sauer said there were roughly 450,000 teachers and those found guilty of misconduct “is a mere fraction of the thousands of hardworking and dedicated educators who toil against the odds, on a daily basis, to secure a future for our society”.

Loyiso Mbinda, CEO of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA for Eastern Cape, however, denied that no teacher in the province was fired in the past four financial years for misconduct. 

“The report is not 100% correct,” he said. 

Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Mali Mtima had not responded at the time of publication.