420 working teachers have sexual assault convictions – documentary

Amy MacIver speaks with Richard Gregory, Director of a new documentary, School Ties. 

Listen to the interview below.

Parents send their young boys to top schools to give them the best opportunities.

However, many of these boys end up facing horrific abuse with devastating consequences later in life.

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Some of them have taken their lives as the pain becomes too much to bear.

Gregory dove into the depths of this abuse in his new documentary, ‘School Ties.’

At these prestigious schools, the students are frequently told how lucky they are to be there, which leads to them keeping quiet about the abuse they face.

According to psychologists, some victims will never share what has happened.

In 2019, the SA Council of Educators (SACE) recorded 122 cases of sexual abuse of pupils by teachers, although many more cases go unreported.

When doing research for this harrowing documentary series, Gregory found research suggesting roughly 420 teachers working in South Africa have sexual assault convictions or arrests.

“They have slipped through the system and continued working.”

- Richard Gregory, Director - School Ties

He says many schools are not doing sufficient background checks, especially when hiring teachers through referrals or old boy and old girl networks.

“We quickly realised that there are a lot of things schools can do to change their systems to try and help prevent kids from being subjected to this type of abuse.”

- Richard Gregory, Director - School Ties

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.