Teachers accuse colleague

They claim he has harassed them sexually and verbally

AS MOST government schools were opening for the third term yesterday, more than six teachers protested against sexual harassment by a male colleague in Meadowlands, Soweto.

A group of Soweto teachers at the Morakapula Santho Public Adult Education and Training Centre are accusing a senior education official of sexual harassment and the emotional and verbal abuse of female staff members.

A female teacher who requested to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation, said: “He does not respect us. He will talk to you like you are somebody he just met in the street.

“We have reported the case to the principal and the head office but nothing has happened,” she said.

According to the aggrieved teacher, the staff wrote and signed a petition before school closed for holidays because the senior official was harassing most of the female educators and nothing was being done.

“We were expecting the Department of Education to take action but nothing has happened.

“The staff she said.

According to the long-serving teacher, the staff had planned on barricading the school to create awareness about the issues faced at the school.

“We feel that it’s the right thing to barricade the gate.”

Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) expressed their concern over the allegations.

GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “A sexual harassment case is a sensitive issue which would require verification and investigation.

“At the moment I do not have much information regarding this matter and the school,” he said.

One other teacher, who also requested to remain anonymous, told The Star about her experience with the senior education official. “On Heritage Day last year, he offered me a lift after we had celebrated the day. I agreed because we are staying in the same area. On our way home he started telling me he loves me and he wanted to have sex with me and that we were supposed to do the deed,” she said.

The woman said: “He also told me that he would increase my working hours so that my salary would increase as well.

“I told him that I didn’t expect this from him. At that time he was touching me all over my body.

“I didn’t report it until this year January when he started treating me so badly. He was abusing me verbally and emotionally. He told me that he was going to make my work difficult. He was going to use his power over me,” she said.

According to her, she made several attempts to report the case but was disappointed because it was not recorded.

He said we were supposed to do the deed