Suspending & dismissing teachers charged with sexual misconduct not enough to keep children safe, MPs told

The Eastern Cape MEC for Education Fundile Gade says the department is still in a quandary about whether to suspend an East London deputy principal facing sexual exploitation charges, while she’s in police custody, because of the significance of the case.

Gade, on Monday, told Parliament’s inquiry into statutory rape that suspending and dismissing teachers charged with sexual misconduct was not enough to keep children safe.

The department said that so far this year, it’s recorded 29 cases of alleged sexual abuse against learners in the province.

The parliamentary inquiry is conducting public hearings in East London on Monday after two days of engagements in Johannesburg, as it looks to make recommendations to Parliament to strengthen laws meant to protect children from sexual violence.

The East London community was shocked in October by the arrest of a 52-year-old primary school deputy principal, who stands accused of recruiting and forcing young girls into prostitution.

Gade said that the justice cluster needed to step up to deal with educators accused of sex crimes because the education department could only do so much.

"Dismissing them, they will manifest and surface in another province."

Chief director of education, Lulamani Zenzile, believes that cases of child sex abuse involving educators is being under-reported.

"The number of learners alleged to have been raped by educators, this current year, we are sitting at about six."

Eight Eastern Cape teachers have been arrested so far this year for alleged sexual offences perpetrated against learners.

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