An 18-year-old woman who was a victim of sexual assault, after two Soweto teachers allegedly took turns violating her when she was younger, says she no longer wants to pursue the matter as it has brought her trauma and anxiety.
The teen, who cannot be named as she is a victim of a sexual offence, told Sowetan yesterday that she and her family had made peace with what happened and that she was content with carrying on with her life.
“It's been very difficult. I don't know what happened to the [criminal] case and we have no problem with that. My family and I just want to rebuild our lives without having to worry about it any more,” she said.
This comes after the Gauteng department of education said it had opened criminal cases against the two teachers for allegedly sexually assaulting the pupil for a period of two years, from when she was 13 years old.
Department spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed that one of the teachers from Siyabonga Secondary School in Braamfischerville had been placed on precautionary suspension pending the finalisation of his disciplinary process.
The other teacher, who pleaded innocent at the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) to charges of misconduct related to the sexual assault of the pupil, was found guilty and dismissed in March.
Police confirmed that the matter was being investigated by the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit.
“This issue has brought a lot of stress to my family. It's not something I want to revisit,” the teen said.
Her ordeal is one of 361 sexual misconduct cases committed by educators on pupils that have been brought to authorities since 2016. The ELRC said it had received and heard 13 sexual misconduct complaints against teachers in the past two months.
In the ruling on March 30 against the teacher, ELRC said the pupil, who was in Grade 8 in 2016, had approached her teacher about an error in her report card.
She found her teacher in the administration block. “After some time, the complainant was called by the teacher and another. They told her that she had to have sex with them if she wanted her marks to be fixed. She refused... She was told to come back the next morning,” read the ruling by arbitrator Coen Havenga.
When she arrived at the school the following day, she was told to go to the teacher’s office where she was allegedly assaulted by the two men.
Havenga wrote that while one teacher allegedly raped her, the other took pictures with his phone. “Before she left, they told her that they would kill her if she told anyone about the rape. She then left,” wrote Havenga.
The two men also allegedly also gave her birth control pills. She eventually told her father about her ordeal in 2018 when she wanted a transfer from the school. The matter was referred to the department.
“Her father took her to the police, where she made a statement. The matter was not investigated. The police then sent her to the Teddy Bear Clinic, [and] because of transport problems, she only had one session with a social worker.”
The victim said she knew that the case had been withdrawn and she didn't want to pursue it further.
Cpt Kay Makhubelele could not be reached for comment yesterday to confirm the status of the case.
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