3.3% of school staff have a criminal past, report warns
Before 2019, teachers, principals, sports coaches, grounds staff and daycare helpers were not obliged to disclose a previous criminal record. By
Schools are a microcosm of society, encapsulating both the good and the bad, and in SA they are also unknowingly harbouring criminals who are gaming the system by not revealing their shady pasts.
A report by specialist credit bureau TPN now suggests that about 3.3% of employees at schools across the country have a criminal record for offences ranging from convictions for murder, rape, abduction, theft, robbery, fraud, assault, drugs and housebreaking to serious road infringements.
More than half of them have not declared these convictions – that’s because a loophole in the law only requires staff employed after January 2019 to declare their past brushes with the law.
The South African Council for Educators (SACE) – the professional body for teaching – updated its requirements as recently as 2019 for new registrants as well as registrants who are applying for updates and/or renewals but are not yet fully registered members to submit a police clearance certificate.
Those already employed prior to that date who had kept quiet about their criminal convictions are slipping through the cracks, says TPN’S legal counsel, Ashleigh Laurent, which is why every employee must be screened against the National Child Protection Register and the National Register for Sex Offenders, and have their qualifications verified.
TPN provides data and services to property owners and managers as well as schools. It works with more than 1,000 public and private schools, in urban and rural areas, helping them to collect fees, validate student applications, employee qualifications and employment records, plus screen for criminal convictions.
Laurent says their data, supported by South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics, highlights the importance of thoroughly vetting school staff so that they meet their statutory requirements and have the required qualifications. “Screening school employees is particularly important given that these individuals will be coming in close contact with vulnerable individuals. Crime statistics reveal that South African schools are no longer the safe havens they are intended to be.”
In the third quarter of 2023, SAPS statistics show there were seven murders, 61 rapes – 38 of which occurred at schools and six at daycares – 24 attempted murders and 252 cases of assault on educational premises including schools, daycare facilities and universities.
Rape, in particular, is one of South Africa’s most under-reported crimes, so the number is likely to be higher.
Last year, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said 8.2% of schoolgoing children aged five to 17 years reported that they had experienced some form of violence, including corporal punishment and verbal abuse.
Of the one million children who experienced violence at school, close to 84% experienced corporal punishment by teachers, followed by verbal abuse by teachers (13.7%)
and physical violence by teachers (10.6%).
In another report, titled Lifting the veil on violence against children in South Africa, Stats SA warned in February this year that the total reported cases of rape and sexual assault to police compared with those registered for children aged 17 years and younger shows consistently higher per capita rape and assault rates among children. Its data shows that the total per capita rape rate has remained steady at 70 per 100,000 of the population from 2015/2016 onwards. Sexual assault rates were notably lower compared with rape rates, but the per
capita sexual assault was nearly twice as high among children as it was in the general population.
The Children’s and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Acts both oblige employers who offer services that allow access to children or mentally disabled people to verify whether an employee’s name appears on the National Child Protection Register or in the National Register for Sex Offenders. If an employee’s name appears in either register, they are not allowed to work in such an environment.
“School principals who don’t conduct these checks and employ staff with a criminal record can be held criminally and civilly liable for failing in their duty of care to children or vulnerable people. It could also be argued that any damage to a school’s … reputation may have a long-term impact.”
Another concern is that school employees who have previously been arrested or convicted of a crime that is not sexual in nature may, in certain circumstances, be allowed to work in an environment with children. These circumstances depend on the nature and gravity of the crime, when it was committed, and the position that the prospective employee is applying for.
Elijah Mhlanga, the spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education (DBE), says there are various mechanisms in place to ensure that people who work in the department’s schools are fit and proper. This includes the screening of prospective and existing employees against the sex offenders and child protection registers. “Further to these, [SACE] requires all prospective teachers to submit a police clearance certificate prior to registration with the council.”
Mhlanga says since 2022 the DBE has been working with provincial education departments, as the employer, and the national Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to ensure that no employees are registered on the sex offenders register, irrespective of whether or not the offence was committed during the course of their employment.
“Provincial education departments report to the DBE twice a month on the progress that they have achieved towards ensuring that current employees do not have their particulars recorded in the register.”
However, Mhlanga acknowledges that the vetting of employees against the register has not been a seamless process, in part due to delays caused by a lack of funds, as the employer foots the bill for vetting existing staff; a shortage of human resource capacity in provincial education departments, police stations and regional offices of the Department of Justice; and incomplete or incorrectly filled-in forms submitted by employees.
Despite the numerous obstacles, Mhlanga says there are ongoing efforts to ensure compliance, and ultimately, the protection of the vulnerable against sexual predators.
Lebogang Montjane from the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (Isasa) says that staff vetting is a legal obligation, with consequences for noncompliance, which is why Isasa has for a number of years circulated a memorandum dealing with this issue at the beginning of each year.
In January this year, Isasa lamented that a large number of schools had vented their frustrations about inordinate delays by the Department of Social Development and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in issuing clearance certificates, which is why the organisation has approached the departments to discuss the issues on behalf of its members.
Isasa’s member schools have been advised to ensure that they comply with the mandatory vetting obligations in order to protect children and to protect them against possible liability claims against the school, and to report any lack of response from government departments to Isasa’s legal department for escalation.
Ideally, clearance on both registers should be obtained every two years, says Montjane.
Police clearance is not a legislative requirement, but SACE expects all educators to have police clearances in order to be recognised and registered by them. “We advise our members to carry these [out] every two years, when the other clearances are done.”
Screening school employees is particularly important given that these individuals will
be coming in close contact with vulnerable
individuals