Teacher probed over ‘hosepipe smack’

A seven-year-old Despatch pupil was allegedly hit over the head with a piece of hosepipe by a grade 1 teacher, who reportedly admitted it later to the child’s mother in a voice note – but said she had done so by accident while hitting him on the hand.

The Nomathamsanqa Primary School teacher and a grade 3 colleague are now being investigated for meting out corporal punishment involving three pupils, one of whom was also allegedly slapped by the grade 1 teacher.

The teacher has declined to comment.

Parents of two of the children involved have expressed outrage at the way the Khayamnandi school and the education department have handled the incidents.

Corporal punishment was abolished in 1996-1997 in line with amendments to Section 10 of the South African Schools Act, which deals with the methods of disciplining pupils.

After unsuccessful attempts to get the education department to investigate the alleged abuse of pupils – two instances of which took place in 2018 – parents and school governing body chair Zoniselo Khonzapi turned to the South African Council for Educators.

Khonzapi wrote to the council, attaching letters from parents in late November, and it responded within a month.

The council is an independent ethics board for educators which is mandated by Act 31 of 2000 to provide teacher registration and further set and maintain ethical and professional practices.

The mother of the pupil, now in grade 2, said the teacher hit her son on the head with a piece of hosepipe in May 2018 when he was in grade 1.

“We send our children to school trusting that the teachers would be parent figures [to] them, we don’t expect them to hit our children,” she said.

“And I told [the teacher this] when I confronted her on WhatsApp about hitting my child on the head.”

On a WhatsApp voice note sent to the mother, and forwarded to The Herald, the teacher says: “Sisi, before judging me, please ask [your son] what happened, because I was hitting him on his hand, then he Teacher [yanked] it [away], resulting in me hitting him on his head.”

The mother said she had been told that her son had been misbehaving.

She said her son had hurt his head when he fell when he was a year old.

She was worried now because since being hit on the head with the hosepipe he had been suffering headaches.

Another parent whose child was allegedly slapped by the same teacher in October 2018 claimed she had said he was a moron.

She said she had been asked not to open a case by the principal, Thozamile Maqungu, who had promised to handle the situation.

She claimed her seven-yearold son had been chased out of the class by the teacher after he told his mother what had happened.

The woman said: “I went to the school to report this [and when the principal did not take action], I informed the [school governing body].

“A week later, I arrived home and my son told me he was sent out of class.

“The principal then called me to a meeting where [the teacher] was present.

“All she said was that she was sorry.

“I felt undermined as a parent and also very concerned that my child was not safe.”

The council said it was investigating a third incident in which a grade 3 pupil was allegedly hit by a different teacher, but declined to provide details.

The child’s mother also did not want to comment.

Maqungu said: “We can’t comment on this. You need to consult with the district office.”

Council spokesperson Thembinkosi Ndhlovu confirmed that an investigation panel under the directive of the ethics committee had investigated the complaints.

The panel visited the school on February, 6, taking statements from all the parties

“Whether the claims are valid or not, we are in no position to say as we have not as yet received a report from the investigator,” Ndhlovu said.

Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said it would conduct its own investigation.

Asked why the department had delayed following up the allegations, Mtima said the school management committee had received the reports, but the department had had to focus on the end-of-year exams.

‘He [yanked] his hand [away], resulting in me hitting him on his head’

NOMATHAMSANQA PRIMARY