Expulsion recommended for matric pupil who headbutted teacher

A matric pupil who allegedly assaulted a teacher upon learning that his school would close following a positive Covid-19 case, is facing expulsion.

This was the recommendation the school governing body (SGB) of Motswedi Secondary School near Zeerust made, following a disciplinary hearing at the school on Thursday.

News24 reported that a group of matric pupils allegedly assaulted the teacher and video footage of the incident was distributed on social media pages.

“On the day of the incident, subdistrict officials and the school management assembled learners at the school to [inform] them of the temporary school closure due to a confirmed case of Covid-19 among the teachers,” North West education department spokesperson Elias Malindi said.

“After the meeting, some of the learners were unhappy about the decision of closing the school and were seen arguing and assaulting a teacher. One of the learners was seen headbutting the teacher while others were insulting him.”

Serious transgressions

The SGB summoned the pupil to a disciplinary hearing for violating the code of conduct for pupils by endangering the safety of or threatening fellow pupils or teachers; and disrupting the school programme or violating the rights of others.

According to Malindi, these acts of misconduct are considered to be very serious transgressions of the South African Schools Act.

“The disciplinary hearing recommended a sanction or penalty of expulsion after the verdict of guilty was found by the SGB,” Malindi said.

The verdict and sanction were recommended to the head of department for consideration. If expulsion is approved, the pupil will be given a five-day opportunity to appeal the decision.

An appeal may be made to Education MEC Mmaphefo Matsemela, who will have the final word after considering the appeal.

Malindi said Matsemela was unable to comment on the matter as she “cannot be a referee and a player at the same time”, but said she “generally supports the law that states that learners will never be allowed to be violent in schools”.

‘Unacceptable and indecent behaviour’

Matsemela earlier said she was “disappointed by the unacceptable and indecent behaviour” of the pupils.

“As a department, we view this as a very serious offence to be committed by learners. Teachers are parents to learners while they are in school and no child will be allowed to raise a hand towards them,” Matsemela said after the incident.

Malindi added: “Among the recommendations made by the SGB is that the learner be allowed to write his Grade 12 final examination at an alternative venue. The SGB further recommended that the learner be taken for counselling for anger management and to check if he is using drugs.”

The SGB summoned eight other pupils who were allegedly involved in the incident. They are expected to appear before the disciplinary committee on Friday.

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