Department of Education speaks about alleged school rape
MIDRAND - Police have arrested a teacher at a secondary school in Rabie Ridge for an alleged rape and further, a video of staff not helping a pupil who was suffering from an asthma attack has surfaced.
After a teacher was arrested for an alleged rape at a school in Rabie Ridge, the Gauteng Department of Education said it was dealing with the aftermath of the incident.
The department’s spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane said the department was “disturbed by allegations of the rape of the Grade 8 pupil by a male educator”.
She said the matter was brought to the department’s attention on 26 August. “We view this matter in a very serious light. The educator will be removed from the school and placed on precautionary transfer to the district pending a disciplinary hearing.”
She stated that the pupil was back at school, and the department had sent social workers to the school to provide counselling for the pupil and the parent.
26 August, 7.30pm:
Staff at Allanridge Secondary School have come under attack after a video, obtained by SABC News, surfaced of a pupil having an asthma attack in the car park in the presence of a security guard who did not assist.
Other pupils helped the boy by passing a paper bag for him to breathe into and water to drink.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi is reported as saying that from tomorrow, the security guard “must not be at the school”.
The family members of the boy who suffered the attack said they were shocked and saddened by the video, seeing that they had told the school about the boy’s asthma condition.
The pupils alleged that teachers saw the boy having the asthma attack and also did not assist him.
26 August, 2.30pm:
Rabie Ridge police spokesperson Constable Jacob Nhlongo said the mother of the complainant, a minor, made a sworn statement with regard to the rape. “The mother said the child was in pain and does not recall much, but was raped,” said Nhlongo.
“The pupil and her classmates had been cleaning the classroom just before the incident took place. She was the last one to go and collect her school bag from the teacher’s class, and remembers that the suspect had been standing by the door and pressed a wet cloth over her mouth and nose and she passed out.”
It is alleged that when the complainant regained consciousness she felt weak and in pain, and took her bag and went home. The following morning she woke up feeling in a lot of pain and told her mother that she was raped. The mother went to report the matter to the police.
The suspect was arrested and will appear in court on a charge of rape.
Watch: The conduct of teachers at a Midrand school is under investigation (SABC Digital News)
