A Rocklands High School teacher in Mitchells Plain is among 19 teachers Western Cape Education is investigating for allegation of sexual misconduct.
The male teacher who returned to work when schools reopened last week drew the ire of parents who demanded action from the department after the man had allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted a former colleague.
While the department has said the matter was being investigated, irate parents have called for the teacher to be suspended from the school pending the outcome of the probe into the allegations levelled against him.
The department said just last year, 34 teacher were being investigated for sexual misconduct of which 19 were for sexual assault and 15 for harassment.
To date, nine sexual assault case, one sexual relationship with a pupil and nine sexual harassment cases were still being investigated. The remaining 15 cases resulted in six teachers being found guilty and three of them dismissed for sexual assault.
But an investigation offers little comfort to the 24-year-old former Rocklands High School teacher who was allegedly harassed by her superior.
According to an eight page statement from the victim, she alleges that in the few months that she worked at the school, she was continuously harassed and violated by the teacher. The incidents started two weeks after she began working at the school.
“He was one of two of my head of departments and presented himself as a powerful, trustworthy man,” she said.
“When I needed a lift home one day, he offered. I didn't think anything of it.
“We spoke (about) work at first, then he started asking me inappropriate questions about boyfriends and what my boundaries are with him. He also asked me about the type of men I sleep with.
“I began feeling uncomfortable because I realised what was happening. He rested his hand on my knee and I froze.”
The victim said at this point she got out of the car after the man had stopped at the beach instead of taking her straight home.
“I felt uneasy because I asked him to step back, then later he would start making comments about spanking me and even though I turned my face away kissed me,” she added.
“I wanted to go home and told him so.”
The former teacher said after that the man continued making advances at school.
“He would walk pass me and rub his arm against my breast, he would rub my stomach without my consent. There were instances when I really felt violated, especially the time he asked me what bra size I wear and if he could see and the time he put his fingers through the loopholes in my pants.”
The woman said the breaking point came in the third term when she was offered a permanent position at the school and her alleged abuser made her believe it was his doing.
“He told me that he organised it and told those in power to hire me. He then started abusing his powers and made me mark his scripts. I later learnt that I didn't need to do it and it was his job. I was exhausted and tired and scared and depressed,” she added.
“While driving home with a female colleague I decided to open up and tell her. She was disgusted and I suppose told the principal about what happened.”
The woman said the man started acting out after she reported his behaviour.
“I was using his class to have lessons, but (after the complaint) he would lock his class and I had to use the field to teach,” she added.
At the end of the term she decided to leave her job and is now unemployed.
“I blame him. I went into teaching because I loved it, but now I fear it. I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. I cannot walk into a classroom or staffroom without feeling as if I’m going to go through the same thing,” she added
Irate parents are now demanding action from the department.
A concerned parent whose child is in matric at the school told Weekend Argus that she learned about the case when her daughter approached her.
“She showed me a post on social media calling out this teacher and I realised that he was still at the school,” she said.
“How can they allow him to still teach? If he could make an adult
feel the way she felt, how would a child feel?”
Another parent said her daughter told her about the teacher who held lessons in a field.
“Hearing such things makes me so angry! He abused his power to manipulate this young lady. I’m not comfortable with someone like that still being allowed in a classroom with my child,” she said.
Spokesperson for the department, Bronagh Hammond said the matter was reported to the Directorate Employee Relations on November 8.
“The WCED takes allegations of this kind very seriously, and investigates each case accordingly. The investigation has been finalised and further action will be based on the outcome of the investigation,” she said.
Hammond denied the department was not taking the allegations
seriously. “We need to take each case on its merit while we investigate allegations made, and in this instance the alleged victim/complainant was no longer at the school due to resigning in November. The accused’s presence at the school did not jeopardise the investigation or endangered the well-being or safety of any person at the workplace.”
Last year, the national department of education gazetted amended terms and conditions of employment of teachers included prohibiting the rehiring teachers found guilty of grave misconduct and sexual assault of pupild and colleagues.
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