Dismissal of educators welcomed after found guilty of sexual offences

The decision made by the South African Council for Educators (SACE) to indefinitely strike the educators off the roll for alleged sexual conduct, including sexual harassment of learners and having sexual relations with their learners, was recently welcomed by the New Lovelife Trust.

“Educators across thousands of South African schools are entrusted with the primary responsibility of educating learners in the many hours they spend with them.

“They should never abuse learners, particularly those in their care,” said loveLife spokesperson and Gauteng provincial manager Thilivhali Livhadi.

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“The announcement by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) that 30 educators have been fired since April is a welcomed development, yet a disappointing one, as we continue to see sex pest educators being exposed to learners, who mostly go to school to get the much-needed education.”

Livhadi said as positioned by the ELRC, learners are exposed to appalling crimes and behaviour such as sexual assault, sharing pornographic material, assault, unwelcome behaviour, poor performance, dishonesty, and theft among some of the charges mentioned by the ELRC.

In another news report, SACE said between March 2022 and April 2023, it had deregistered 31 educators, with the majority (22) found guilty of sexual offences.

LoveLife is alarmed by the high number of misconduct cases, showing that there needs to be stringent methods in hiring the right calibre of educators who would be fit for purpose and competent in ensuring that learners are safe and not sexually exploited or abused.

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“It cannot be business as usual when many educators are dismissed for these harrowing offences.

“This is a demonstration that scourges such as sexual violation, and violence are more prevalent than before and that there are still numerous perverted educators out there targeting learners.

“We have always been steadfast in calling for adults to actively participate in protecting learners instead of merely condemning the crimes.

“All sectors of society should work together with schools to see justice prevail for learners whose rights are violated.

“LoveLife further calls for strict adherence to the National Child Protection Register so that such sex pest educators should never be allowed near learners again.

“We believe the dismissal of these educators should not be merely left as a labour matter but should be taken further as their acts also have a glaring criminal element.

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“The SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit need to be roped in so that the criminal justice system is in action.

“Responsible authorities need to prioritise the safety of learners at schools at all costs. The prevalence of violence against children at school is unacceptable and should practically be the chargeable criminal offence that it is.”

Livhadi said that they encourage the Department of Basic Education, relevant labour unions and governing bodies to commit themselves to non-negotiables, violent-free schools and hold educators accountable to applicable professional codes of conduct.

“While we recognise that most educators work extremely hard and do their best in school environments for the prosperity of learners, we advocate for the irresponsible ones to be outrooted from the education system so that they never have access to learners.

“Let us all prioritise protecting learners in our school and everybody’s responsibility,” said Livhadi.