By Alicia Mmashakana
The Gauteng education department has terminated its collaboration with Nal’iBali, effective immediately, following an alleged sexual assault by a practitioner from the reading campaign on a Grade 3 learner at Braamfischerville Primary School.
The incident reportedly occurred on 24 March and was brought to the school’s attention by the learner’s parent the next day. When the school principal learnt of the allegations, he encouraged the parent to file a criminal case.
“Indeed, this is an exceedingly disturbing incident. Our children must never experience such cruelty by some adults who are supposed to assist to develop and take care of them,” Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said on Wednesday.
“We remain committed to creating a safe and secure environment for all learners. We will continue to work with law enforcement agencies and relevant partners to ensure that incidents of this nature are dealt with swiftly, transparently and justly”.
A joint meeting was arranged to update the School Governing Body on the latest developments, and a parent engagement workshop had been organised for the weekend to provide additional information.
The practitioner, who is not a member of the department, was suspended before his arrest on 28 March. His bail hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Nal’iBali is a national reading-for-enjoyment programme that collaborates with the government to help South African children reach their full potential via storytelling and reading, particularly in foundation phase learning.
Department spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “It must be emphasised that the department has been conducting a vetting on all existing school-based employees and newly appointed employees.”
He said the state that their records revealed that about 42 incidences of sexual misconduct were submitted to the department.
Mabona said 19 cases had been completed, resulting in approximately 11 employees being dismissed, four employees being found not guilty, two cases being withdrawn against employees due to insufficient evidence, and one employee resigning while another retiring from the public service.
“We have about 23 cases pending finalisation, of which about 15 are at various stages of disciplinary hearings, and eight cases are still under investigation,” Mabona said.
In all reported cases, the alleged perpetrators were either placed on precautionary suspension or reassigned to district offices until the completion of the investigations.
INSIDE EDUCATION
