At Drakensberg school, smoking is more serious than a sex crime – parent

A parent of a former pupil at the Drakensberg Boys Choir School has questioned the school’s code of conduct and willingness to deal with offences such as sexual misconduct among pupils, claiming the school has a history of downplaying it.

These allegations come after a pupil’s father alleged the school failed to properly respond to claims his son was sexually abused by another learner at the school.

The victim explained his 12-year-old son had called him to describe how an innocent movie night had ended in him waking up to a peer fondling him. The father said he could not reach anyone at the school for most of the day, despite his son having reported the matter. When the father made contact, he was told “everyone was fine”.

The father demanded to know why the school had not alerted him or why the incident was not reported to the police.

These allegations coincide with a former pupil at the school preparing to go on trial next month for the alleged rape of a boy in October 2018. It was reported the recently publicised assault took place just a week after that first incident.

A frustrated former parent at the school who was around during the first incident has questioned the school’s code of conduct and whether they are effecting positive change at the all-boys school. She said the school had no procedures in place do deal with sexual misconduct cases and instead hid behind their code of conduct, which offers little corrective recourse.

“(The school’s) management tells you they follow the correct system according to their code of conduct, but nobody is questioning this code of conduct and how it deals with maximum cases like improper sexual conduct.

“(At the time) it said if found guilty for sexual misconduct, the learner will only get a one-week suspension, and only after they do it three times will they get expelled, whereas if a learner is caught smoking, they get expelled at once!”

The parent, who is well acquainted with the circumstances surrounding the first incident, said the learner who was sexually assaulted by an older learner called his mother to request that she visit him because he wanted to tell her something.

The mother reportedly got to the school on a Saturday morning only to be called into the boarding principal’s office, and informed her son had been involved in an “incident of a sexual nature”.

Although attempts to get the exact details failed, as she was told an investigation was ongoing, she was given a voice recording by other learners in the school, where the perpetrator admitted to forcing his genitals into her son’s mouth. The mother was also told other learners had given statements about it to the school.

After speaking to her son, she said her son had told her “he forced me”. Enraged, she took the recording to the principal and demanded to know why the perpetrator was still living in the boarding house with her son and the rest of the boys. The incident was reported  by the mother four days after the incident occurred.

Expressing frustration, the anonymous source asked The Citizen: “Why was the mother only told about the incident on the Saturday when the incident occurred on the Thursday? Why were the parents of the learner who had committed the assault only contacted on the Monday? Why did the victim only see the school therapist on the Monday?”

The source said the school continued to insist it was following the correct procedures through their code of conduct.

In the school’s 2019 updated version of their code of conduct, the only reference it makes to sexual misconduct is that “indecent sexual harassment or explicit sexual behaviour on school premises or during school excursions and/or tours or with persons associated to the school” will result in suspension on the first offence and expulsion on the second, implying that they changed it from needing three offences for expulsion. Smoking is still a one-strike offence though.

The angry parent said “what they were supposed to have done was sit up and effect positive change”.

Responding to the most recent events, the Drakensburg Boys Choir School sent out a statement saying: “Stories have recently surfaced in the media regarding incidents which have taken place at the Drakensberg Boys Choir School in 2018. The approach taken by the media outlet this morning is that the school is ‘covering up’ the incidents to protect its own image and that the school has not complied with its legal obligations.

“The school is of the firm view that there has been no cover-up and that it did indeed comply with its legal obligations.

“With reference to the alleged rape reported on last week, the school sought both legal advice as well as guidance from the Independent Schools Association of South Africa (ISASA), as soon as the incident occurred. In order to ascertain the facts of what transpired and based on the feedback received, the school appointed an independent legal professional to chair an enquiry to establish if in fact an offence, sexual or otherwise, had been committed. Both boys were assisted by their parents at that enquiry and an independent child psychologist was requested to attend the enquiry to assist the boys if necessary.

“The story released (on Monday) morning included allegations made by a past pupil’s parent. The parent is currently embroiled in a dispute with the school for not paying school fees. During attempts to obtain payment from him, he threatened to besmirch the good name of the school. This matter will be properly ventilated and decided in a court of law in due course. The school is confident that it also acted properly in this matter. The parents of the children involved were informed of the incident, the matter discussed with them and appropriate action taken with the agreement of this parent.

“As with any school, there will be incidents and allegations, hearings, disciplinary process and sanctions, but at no time was the school involved in any ‘cover-up’. The allegation that the school sweeps matters under the carpet in an effort to protect its image is not true. The school is committed to protecting all our boys and to always acting in their best interests at all times.”

The department of basic education failed to respond to requests for comment.

jenniffero@citizen.co.za

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