Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - August 28, 2005
Prega Govender

A TOTAL of 269 teachers were fired by the government for committing serious offences - including 49 for rape and sexual abuse - in a period of just over one year.

A further 187 teachers are on the brink of being sacked after being slapped with final written warnings.

The teachers, plus another several hundred of their colleagues, were found guilty on 620 charges of misconduct, which included assault, corporal punishment and stealing school funds.

The shocking statistics come from records of disciplinary hearings held by the education departments in all nine provinces.

Education Minister Naledi Pandor yesterday expressed concern at the number of teachers dismissed on misconduct charges.

"Teachers are charged with our precious resources - the children of our country - and we expect them to execute that charge with a high degree of professionalism.

"I want quality educators who are committed to upholding the character and status of the profession," said Pandor.

Five teachers were found guilty of murder by the High Court, including two who had killed their wives.

One Gauteng headmaster was kicked out for deliberately disclosing a teacher's HIV status to colleagues during an altercation with her, and another principal was demoted for a similar offence.

Pandor said she expected teachers to uphold the highest levels of professional conduct.

"We are committed to improving the status and remuneration of educators and we expect a complementary professional response in terms of conduct."

The shocking list of educators found guilty on misconduct charges over the last 16 months includes:

* 49 for rape, sexual relationships with learners and sexual harassment;

* 109 for fraud and financial mismanagement;

* 44 for administering corporal punishment; and

* 62 for assault.

A further 34 cases of assault against learners are being investigated.

The Education Departments' statistics of finalised disciplinary cases reveal that 126 teachers countrywide were fined between R1000 to R6000, while another 110 were suspended without pay for between one and three months.

One teenager from a primary school in the Vhembe district of Thohoyandou, Limpopo, is still traumatised after being violently assaulted and raped by her teacher in July 2003. The 33-year-old teacher threw her onto a staff-room table after school and raped her.

According to the Employment of Educators' Act, theft, sexual abuse, sexual relationships with learners and serious assault by teachers are dismissable offences.

At least 65 of the 269 teachers dismissed were from Limpopo, while 46 were from the Eastern Cape, and 51 from Gauteng.

Limpopo's Education Department said there was a "strong possibility" that a further 35 teachers who are facing disciplinary hearings would be given their marching orders.

In the Eastern Cape, 10 teachers were found guilty of dishonesty relating to the government's social grants.

Pandor said convictions arising from sexual relationships with pupils, sexual harassment and rape were grounds for "automatic dismissal".

She said there was a need to promote professional ethics and positive conduct "on perhaps a far greater scale than may be happening at the moment".

Willie Kutumela, the chairman of the Education Labour Relations Council, which among other things acts as an arbitrator in disputes between teachers and the education departments, said 467 disputes had been resolved in the last financial year.

"Between 90% and 98% of these cases went in favour of the employer," he said.

Thulas Nxesi, the general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), said the union rejected any generalisation which painted the profession as "irresponsible".

"We can't paint all teachers with the same brush. But individuals must be brought to book. Those involved in misconduct will be dealt with in terms of the law and in terms of our own code of conduct."

Dave Balt, the president of the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) - representing 81 000 teachers - said teacher misconduct was "one of the sad parts of our profession.

"There unfortunately has been a number of teachers identified who clearly don't deserve to carry the term 'teacher'."

He said teachers had to be "role models".

"If people can't live up to that standard, then clearly they must leave the profession."

Rej Brijraj, the chief executive officer of the South African Council for Educators (SACE), said they very often went along with the Education Department's findings because its process was very fair.

"The number of complaints coming to SACE and the total number of dismissals we effected, which is in the region of 50 to 60 since 2000, indicates that teachers, by and large, are conducting themselves professionally."

Paul Colditz, the national chairman of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), said teacher misconduct was a huge problem.

"We get between two to three reports of misconduct against teachers a week."

Colditz, whose organisation represents 1200 governing bodies, said teacher misconduct could partially be blamed for their underperformance in the classroom.

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