Pupils shouldn’t face hellholes

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “fiend” as “an evil and cruel person”… which is why we used it to headline our story about how SA’s schools have become places where sexual predators – teachers in most cases – prey on young pupils.

To call these rapists “pests”, as has become commonplace in the media when it comes to cases of sexual violence, is not only grossly inaccurate, it is also a terrible disrespect to the victims.

Victims is the word we choose here, rather than “survivors”, which is what some activists group prefer, because it focuses on the journey to healing for those who are attacked. They are victims because they were deliberately chosen by someone more powerful than them.

ALSO READ: ‘Sexual violence cases not reported’ – Schools becoming haven for teachers to molest pupils

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the number of reported cases of teachers molesting their charges has risen significantly in the last three years.

But social workers believe that, worrying as that increase is, the more frightening reality is that the reported cases may only be the tip of a ghastly iceberg because sexual assault is under-reported.

The DA’s shadow deputy minister of basic education, Desiree van der Walt, said although the number of cases of sexual misconduct reported to the SA Council of Educators had risen dramatically, just 19 teachers had been found guilty of such misconduct since 2019.

ALSO READ: Three Eastern Cape teachers suspended for alleged sexual misconduct

But even more horrifying is the fact that only four of those had been permanently struck off the roll. It should not be possible that such offenders are not only apparently spared a jail sentence, they are allowed back into the classroom.

Along with the surge of violence in schools – in class and outside it – and the prevalence of weapons and drugs, never mind teachers who don’t care, it is clear: many parents are sending their children off to not schools, but hellholes.

ALSO READ: GDE spends R10m on teachers suspended for sexual misconduct – DA