WENDY MOTHATA
Section27, which represents the Centre for Child Law and two parents, was on Tuesday granted leave to appeal the corporal punishment judgment case involving the South African Council of Educators (SACE).
The case concerns two ‘violent’ teachers who imposed corporal punishment on school learners.
On Tuesday, Judge Dawie Fourie of the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division in Pretoria, granted Section27’s application for leave to appeal.
Section27 spokesperson, Julia Chaskalson, said the two teachers who imposed corporal punishment on the learners received lenient sentences from SACE.
Chaskalson said Section27 wants the names of the two teachers to be struck off the roll of educators for 10 years.
“Section27, on behalf of the Centre for Child Law and two parents, will now proceed to file papers at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein. The children of the parents we represent were severely injured by teachers, who – despite pleading guilty to corporal punishment – received very lenient sentences from SACE. Both teachers were fined R15,000 but only paid R5,000 each because R10,000 of the fines were suspended. They also received another suspended sentence of having their names struck off the roll of educators for 10 years, which means that the teachers are still in classrooms unless they are found guilty of another offence,” said Chaskalson.
“We would like the SCA to order SACE to review these sentences so that these violent teachers are no longer allowed to teach after being found guilty of corporal punishment.”
In August 2015, a teacher beat a 7-year-old with a PVC pipe, causing a head injury. The teacher then allegedly assaulted another pupil and left him with a bloody nose.
In a separate incident, in February 2019, a teacher beat and slapped a 10-year-old pupil over the head, causing her ears to bleed.
After being granted leave to appeal on Tuesday, Section27’s Faranaaz Veriava said: “Advancing to the Supreme Court of Appeal is an important step towards better accountability for teachers who employ corporal punishment in classrooms.
“Despite corporal punishment being illegal since 1996, SACE continues to allow teachers off the hook when they are found guilty of corporal punishment. We need a stronger institutional response to enforce the corporal punishment ban so that classrooms are safe from violence.”
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