All must act against sex pests in schools

If South Africa is serious about fighting gender-based violence in schools, everybody needs to play a role.

A teacher from Zivuko Secondary School in Nkowankowa Tzaneen, Limpopo, allegedly “continuously” enjoyed having sexual relationships with pupils, while community leaders, authorities and parents are aware of this, but nothing is being done.

The 53-year-old teacher reportedly impregnated an 18-year-old Grade 11 pupil.

He asked his wife to accompany him and the girl to the local doctor to terminate the pregnancy. The wife claimed she was not aware why the pupil was taken to the doctor, saying the man lied to her saying the pupil was ill.

In the presence of the wife, the alleged paedophile told the doctor they were the parents of the girl and wanted her to terminate the pregnancy because she was still young.

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I believe the wife was just protecting her beloved husband.

The doctor refused to assist on the grounds that the pregnancy was, at seven months, at an advanced stage.

After a few days, the child disappeared and returned only after a month. According to those who saw her, she lost weight.

It is believed she illegally terminated the pregnancy after the doctor refused to assist.

The fact that the couple took the child without her parent’s permission and tried to convince a doctor to perform an abortion shows the wife knew what was happening.

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In poverty-stricken areas such as Nkowankowa, unemployed women unwillingly support their spouses, even if they do wrong because they depend on them financially.

Chances are that the woman supports this man to protect their relationship because he is taking care of her.

When investigating the case for a news article, I asked the woman what she did to protect the girl.

She said she asked her man not to do it again.

According to her, the man conceded that he impregnated the pupil, apologised and promised not to do it again.

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The matter also reached Community Policing Forum (CPF) members, who also interrogated the man. He said clearly that he was tempted and won’t do it again.

I spoke to the leader of the CPF and he agreed that the man confessed – but nothing was done to punish him and his apology was accepted by his wife and the CPF leaders.

And I’m told that the doctor was notified about what was happening and also failed to report the matter to the police.

None of these people took action against this man. They just accepted his apology and ignored the pain that the young girl went through.

To make things worse, the CPF leader says the girl told them that the other four pupils were also in a sexual relationship with the teacher.

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A few weeks ago, community members discovered that the man was continuing with his alleged statutory rape actions after it transpired that he was in love with a 17-year-old girl from the same school.

This time, a community leader, Elizabeth Shingange, founder of the Elizabeth Home Foundation, reported the matter to the police.

Shingange said the police promised to investigate the matter but later told him the case was not opened because there was not enough evidence.

What I gathered when researching this matter is that the victims were from indigent backgrounds and the teacher took advantage of that and gave them money.

As I’m writing this, that teacher is continuing with his life, while the children’s lives are in danger.

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It is about time that communities, authorities and parents stand up and protect our children.

The police and the department of education must up their games in fighting this kind of crime in school.