Teacher beaten for having sex with pupil speaks out

A deputy principal has been beaten to a pulp and paraded in the streets while naked after he was accused of raping a 19-year-old grade 12 pupil.  

It has since emerged that they were in a relationship.

Video clips showing Samuel Nchabeleng, 52, deputy principal at Kgagatlou Secondary School in Ga-Mphahlele, in Sekhukhune, Limpopo, standing outside the school gate while naked and covered in blood went viral on social media, resulting in the provincial education department launching an investigation into the matter.

The girl's family told Sowetan they caught him raping their child at his home in Lebowakgomo on Monday.

She and her relatives cannot be named to protect her identity.

However, the police have refused to open a case after she denied that she was raped.

Her relatives claimed they had been searching for her since Friday after she failed to return home from the matric study camp.

A dramatic altercation unfolded when the family arrived at the man's home, knocked and called for him to open but he did not.

They then pushed the door open, resulting in Nchabeleng being beaten up and paraded in the streets before he was taken to the police station where the family attempted to open a rape case against him.

Nchabeleng was rushed to hospital and discharged later that evening.

In one of the video clips taken after the assault, Nchabeleng can be heard confessing that he had sex with the pupil and claimed she consented.

A male voice in the background can be heard asking, "Did you sleep with her?" He responds, "Yes, I had sex with her but I did not force her."

Nchabeleng further said that the pupil arrived at his home on Sunday afternoon after he returned from church and called her to confirm if she was still coming to visit. 

But when Sowetan interviewed him on Tuesday, Nchabeleng changed his tune, denying that he ever had sex with her or raped her. 

The rooms inside his house appeared to have been ransacked, while blood splatters could be seen on the furniture and walls.

Nchabeleng admitted that this was not the first time he was being accused of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl after complaints involving two pupils were lodged against him at the school where he previously worked as a principal.

He said another claim came in September at Kgagatlou Secondary.

But he maintains none of the claims against him have been true.

Nchabeleng denied that he was found naked in bed with the teenager and instead accused her relatives of forcefully removing his clothes. He said he tried reasoning with them but they stormed into his home and started beating him.

“I’m really devastated that people are accusing me of raping a learner. It is not true. I don’t think I will ever set foot at any school after the humiliation I went through,” he said.

The girl’s uncle said he was shocked.

“I was angry, that is why we had a fight. As much as I suspected that it could be happening [that they were having a sexual relationship], I did not think I would find them in the act,” he said.

The uncle said the family was alerted by other pupils about his niece's whereabouts.

He said when they arrived at the house they found both of them naked, while Nchabeleng scrambled for his clothes trying to get dressed.

He said they were disappointed that a rape case was not opened and that even if his niece consented, Nchabeleng had no right to take advantage of schoolchildren.

“We know that the law does not allow teachers to have relationships with learners. How can he keep a learner away from her home for four days, while she is writing exams?” the uncle said.

Education spokesperson Mike Maringa said the department was investigating, adding that the allegations were serious.

The professional ethics of the SA Council for Educators states that teachers are forbidden to have sexual relationships with pupils or engage in inappropriate behaviour such as sharing pornographic materials with them.

Provincial police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that the family tried to open a rape case at the Lebowakgomo police station but officers could not open a case because the girl denied she was raped. Mojapelo said the deputy principal was yet to open an assault case.

mahopoz@sowetan.co.za