Sexual harassment of pupils is out of control in South Africa, but it is a shame that, of all things a province can come tops in, rape is one of them.
The KwaZulu-Natal education sector should bury its head in shame following a statistics report from the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) that a majority of cases where teachers are accused of sexual harassment towards pupils occurred in their province.
TimesLIVE Premium reports that between the beginning of April last year and March this year, a total of 114 cases nationally were referred to the ELRC, with only 40 cases where teachers were found guilty.
KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 25 cases, followed by the Eastern Cape on 20 and Gauteng with 18. These numbers may not reflect the full extent of the problem as many victims choose to keep silent in fear of reprisal, shame or risking not being believed. This tendency of adults abusing their power and access to young people is not only unacceptable but requires serious action.
There are several issues that need addressing. What is wrong with these teachers? How do people who sexualise children get jobs that allow them to work with them? What vetting systems are in place to ensure those who have been found guilty do not sneak back into the system? What is being done to ensure the safety of pupils in schools regarding sexual harassment?
How many more are suffering in silence or lack understanding of what happened to them?
We saw a wave of protests in Soshanguve last week over allegations that a principal at Tiyelani Secondary School raped and impregnated a learner. There are many other cases where learners found the courage to speak out, such as St Bernard's High School in Bochabela, Free State.
There needs to be a special mechanism that deals with these cases at school level to ensure expeditious justice, and create awareness about what constitutes sexual harassment, while also ensuring that perpetrators are held to account. It cannot be business as usual; these statistics must send signals to law enforcement agencies, but also society at large: schools should not be a battlefield for children. If you are violated and broken at school, what kind of life are you supposed to lead in the future?
We cannot look by while the horror of children being preyed on in classrooms is being normalised. Lives are being shattered, trust betrayed, and futures being cut short. The violation of the most vulnerable cannot be part of a normal society.
Until government, school authorities, law enforcement and communities stop treating these scandals as isolated events and instead confront them as a systemic crisis, the abuse will continue.
Teachers who exploit their positions should not only be fired but banned from ever setting foot in a classroom again. Anything less is complicity. Schools are supposed to be sanctuaries, not hunting grounds. The question is no longer whether enough is being done, it’s whether we are prepared to protect children at all costs.
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