Mamelodi parents demand justice after caretaker allegedly assaults learner
Parents disrupted classes and picketed outside the local police station demanding justice for the Grade 7 learner who was allegedly assaulted by a school caretaker.
The alleged assault on a Mamelodi Grade 7 learner by a school caretaker resulted in parents threatening to shut down the school recenlty.
The person allegedly behind the assault is a member of the Mamelodi police who, according to the Gauteng education department. The person was a contractor providing caretaking services at the school in question. The contract with the school has since been terminated.
The incident is said to have occurred last Wednesday with parents allegedly threatening to shut down the school on Friday, August 23.
The learner’s parents claimed that the caretaker assaulted their child with his bare hands and the child’s head was banged against the wall, in front of other learners.
Spokesperson of the Gauteng education department, Steve Mabona confirmed the department was aware of the assault at the school.
“However, we can confirm that there was no disruption of classes on Friday.
“It must be noted that a caretaker has a month-to-month agreement with the school’s governing body,” said Mabona.
“Accordingly, the caretaker’s agreement was terminated based on breach of contractual obligations and safety concerns. He was issued with a 48-hour notice to vacate the school premises, effective August 23.”
Mabona said, that though the SGB and the parents of the learner separately attempted to open an assault case at Mamelodi East SAPS, they were advised that this was an IPID matter and must be dealt with as such.
“Our psycho-social support team was dispatched to the school to provide the necessary support.”
Parents have since picketed outside the Mamelodi East police station, demanding answers as to why the caretaker was not arrested after the parents laid a charge of assault against him.
A parent of the victim told Rekord, that during the incident, the other learners rushed to call one of the class teachers, but by the time the teacher arrived, the child had already suffered a serious beating.
“Upon learning of the incident from the teacher, I immediately went straight to the school and found my child was rushed to the clinic due to the extent of his injuries.”
The assault allegedly happened after the child had taken a R2 coin from the caretaker’s child.
“After receiving the treatment at the clinic, we went straight to the police station and laid a charge of assault against the caretaker, but no action was taken.”
Other parents have voiced their dissatisfaction towards the police and the department.
“The school is supposed to be a safe haven for our children,” disgruntled parents told Rekord.
The police had yet to provide comment by the time of publication.
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