The mother of the teenager who accused a teacher of sexual harassment, was invited for a briefing by the prosecutor on Monday.
She told Rekord after the meeting that the prosecutor briefed her on the status of the case docket and the information still required to bring the charges against the teacher.
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“I am wary of divulging too much detail because I don’t want to jeopardise the case,” she said, adding the information given to her was a bit technical but she was assured the case was not ready for court.
“The prosecutor told me the investigation was continuing.”
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the case docket had been handed over to the prosecutor for her decision but had since been returned to the investigator.
The Gauteng department of basic education has confirmed the teacher was suspended after a psychologist opened the case.
The psychologist, Antoinette Human, said the mother had consulted her because she discovered the teenager was cutting himself and bunking school.
Human said the mother told her the teenager also displayed other behavioural changes.
“Normally he would be very protective over his younger siblings, but he started being agitated with them and one of his siblings discovered he was secretly cutting himself,” she said.
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Human said after the teen told her what had happened, she had set up numerous appointments with the police to take the teen’s statement at her practice, but they never pitched up.
She said eventually she had to take the teen to the Pretoria Central police station to lay the charge and the case was transferred to the Hercules police station for investigation.
Hercules police spokesperson Captain Bonginkosi Msimango confirmed the case.
“A warning statement was obtained from the teacher and the matter was forwarded to the senior public prosecutor for a decision,” said Msimango.
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Education spokesperson Oupa Bodibe said: “The educator has been placed on precautionary suspension and is now reporting to the district office to allow the investigation to proceed.”
The matter was being investigated by the district dispute management unit.
“The department has never hesitated to act where allegations of sexual offences have proven to be true,” said Bodibe.
NPA spokesperson advocate Luvuyo Mfako confirmed the case had been referred back to the investigating officer for further investigation and that it was unclear if the teacher would be prosecuted.
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