A male teacher has been suspended after allegations of rape, sexual assault and child pornography involving boys at a primary school were leveled against him.
The 48-year-old suspect was apprehended on Saturday in Springs after being on the run for a week. The teacher is accused of molesting boys at Siboniwe Primary school in Phola Park, Kwa-Mhlanga.
The Mpumalanga Department of Education has since suspended the teacher pending investigations.
Angry parents want the alleged perpetrator to face the music.
The family of a 16-year-old teenage boy who went missing last weekend searched frantically for him, fearing the worst. The boy was found a few days later. His family breathed a sigh of relief but the relief was short lived. Nothing could prepare them for what the boy disclosed to them after he was found. The boy’s uncle says they are devastated.
“We found out about the abuse when our boy went missing last weekend. We started searching for him and then we got a lead from his friends. They told us that he went to the teacher. Our son is not okay emotionally. He is not himself. We want this thing to end because there are kids still learning at that school and we are not sure about their safety,” explains the uncle.
The uncle says it’s painful to think that their child lost his innocence in such a horrible way.
“The abuse has been happening for three, almost three years while he was still a learner at the school and he continued until he was at another school. It’s so painful because our son has lost his innocence in such a horrible way because of a teacher. He once bought him a bicycle and he would also pay for his school trips and also give him money. What distracted us not to see the abuse is that the teacher acted like a very caring person. He would make him polish his shoes and we thought he was just paying him for that.”
Another parent of a boy attending the same school says she is disappointed and devastated as she trusted the teacher who allegedly violated her son.
“We are devastated; we never thought a teacher would do such a vile act. When kids are at school the teachers become their parents. He’s doing better but him not coping, the way I know him. I want the law to take its course. We want justice,” a parent says.
The Mpumalanga department of Education says the affected learners will be offered counselling. Department spokesperson, Jasper Zwane encouraged parents and guardians to report any form of abuse against learners.
VIDEO: Mpumalanga teacher faces charges of child pornography, sexual assault and rape:
