Parents of Limpopo learner demand justice after rape allegations

Parents of a Grade 7 learner who has allegedly been sexually assaulted by her class teacher at a school outside Tzaneen in Limpopo, are demanding for justice.

The accused teacher, aged 53, will appear again for bail application on Thursday.

Police say the mother of the child discovered explicit text messages on her daughter’s cellphone, purportedly sent by the teacher. She says the child revealed that she had been subjected to months of alleged sexual assault by the teacher.

The mother, who cannot be identified in order to protect the child, says her daughter was allegedly offered R50 by the accused to maintain her silence.

“This is painful, I took my child to school to learn, but instead of learning she was turned into a wife by the teacher. This is very disheartening because I keep on thinking the worst could have happened to my daughter, as this could have turned to be more than sexual assault, she could have been killed because she was all alone.”

Limpopo police spokesperson Hlulani Mashaba says the accused teacher is in custody.

“The police in Mopani have arrested a 53-year-old teacher. The suspect was arrested on the 12th of August 2024. According to preliminary reports at the stage, the incident happened on the 4th of August 2024, the suspect has since appeared briefly at the Bolobedu Magistrate’s Court on the 14th of August 2024. His case has since been postponed to the 22nd of August 2024 for further police investigations and bail hearing.”

Meanwhile, the body responsible for regulating and promoting teaching profession, South African Council of Educators (SACE) says over 30 teachers across the country that have been found guilty of sexual assault against learners, have been struck-off the teaching profession.

SACE spokesperson Risuna Nkuna was reacting to the incident regarding the 53-year-old Limpopo teacher.

“The South African Council for Educators wishes to confirm that a total number of 31 educators have been removed from the roll indefinitely as per the audited annual report 2022/2023 financial year end. This means such teachers will not be able to teach at any school.”