There’s been an alarming increase in the abuse and sexual harassment of pupils by teachers in South African schools, with 111 cases reported to the Education Labour Relations Council in 2024/2025.
This represents a 35,4% increase from the 82 cases reported in the previous year and highlights the need for stronger safeguards, enforcement, and systemic reforms to protect children in schools.
The council (ELRC) revealed these figures to Sowetan yesterday as protests sparked by national outrage over the rape of a seven-year-old girl at a school in Eastern Cape swept across the country.
The numbers of educators who have sexually assaulted pupils are telling and government should be concerned because parents are worried if their children are safe in schools or anywhere in this country.
— Angela Molepo
The rape incident is said to have occurred in October 2024 while the seven year was waiting for transport on the school grounds. She was reportedly raped and drugged in a classroom ar Bergview in College in Matatiele, allegedly by an educator at the school. The mother of the victim revealed her daughter’s rape ordeal during a podcast at the weekend.
The ELRC said of the 111 matters brought before the council, 39 educators were found guilty. There was insufficient evidence against in implicated educators in the remaining cases.
The council’s general secretary Cindy Foca said the number of cases referred per province fluctuates each financial year.
“In the 2024/25 financial year, KZN was the highest referring province and Limpopo the lowest referring province. In the 2023/24 financial year, Eastern Cape was the highest referring province, while Limpopo did not refer to any cases, and the North West province only referred one case,” she said.
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund said yesterday the rape case of the Eastern Cape pupil tragically highlights the systemic failures in protecting our nation's most vulnerable citizens.
"We are witnessing a devastating reality where predators infiltrate the very spaces where children should feel safest. When a child is assaulted at school, the very institution entrusted with their care and development, we must acknowledge that our society is failing its most sacred duty: protecting our children," said the fund’s CEO, Dr Linda Ncube-Nkomo.
The South African Human Rights Commission also condemned the rape of the Eastern Cape minor, noting that the “prevalence of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation in SA” demands not only strong condemnation, but decisive and coordinated action.
Thousands of protestors took to the streets in Mbombela, Durban, Cape Town and Gqeberha and other major centres, demanding justice for the Eastern Cape pupil and other children who have been abused.
Angela Molepo, founder of Justice for SA, which organised the Johannesburg march, threatened a shutdown if no action was taken to end the sexual abuse of children.
"The numbers of educators who have sexually assaulted pupils are telling and government should be concerned because parents are worried if their children are safe in schools or anywhere in this country," Molepo said.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola sent the component head of the family violence, child protection and sexual (FCS) investigations unit Maj-Gen Mmantsheke Lekhele to Matatiele to oversee the ongoing investigation in the rape of the seven-year-old.
The marchers handed over a memorandum of demands to Gauteng MEC for education Matome Chiloane.
The protesters demanded that Bergview College principal Jaco Petreise should submit a DNA sample within 48 hours., transparency in the case and for rape victims to be protected and supported throughout the investigation and prosecutions phases. They are also demanding harsher sentences and for all gender-based violence cases to be prioritised.
One protester Asanda Thembela said: "We have a pandemic and these matters are being ignored by people who should be handling them. Schools are places where we expect our children to be safe."
Queen Nemadzihilili said: "Our fight for this young girl should have an effect on other young girls and boys whose similar sexual assault incidents have been ignored and cast aside by the system."
In Mpumalanga, protestor Awethu Shongwe said: "There are many cases of this nature but they are not taken seriously as our government only listens when you protest."
In another rape case, a 58-year-old Limpopo teacher was arrested in the case of a 13-year-old pupil.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hlulani Mashaba said preliminary investigations reveal that the 13-year-old pupil was raped several times since November 2024 until March 2025. – additional reporting by Mandla Khoza and TimesLIVE
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