The mother of a nine-year-old Grade 4 pupil who was allegedly raped by a teacher at a primary school in Soweto says her daughter told her the alleged abuse had happened before.
The incident reportedly took place at Busisiwe Primary School last Thursday.
The teacher has since handed himself over to police and is expected to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Gauteng Department of Education officials visited the school earlier this week as angry parents staged a protest, demanding the teacher’s removal. The teacher has since been placed on precautionary suspension.
The mother, who cannot be named to protect her daughter’s identity, says she is relieved that the teacher has been apprehended but remains uncertain about whether he has been formally arrested.
“I’m feeling relieved that he has now been apprehended, but I’m here to make sure because, with the way everything unfolded, I don’t even trust that he is arrested for sure,” she said.
She expressed anger that the teacher allegedly continued working after she reported the matter to the school.
“That killed me because I thought as I went and reported the matter, he would be removed from the school so that my daughter could go to school. But then my daughter was the one sitting at home while the alleged suspect was still going to work as per usual,” she said.
The mother said she believes her daughter’s account and wants the teacher to remain behind bars.
“I want him to rot in jail. I trust whatever my daughter has said is true, even if some people are trying to say it's not true. I'm standing with my daughter 100%,” she said.
She also called for greater awareness of sexual abuse and improved support for children who experience it.
The mother said she first noticed a change in her daughter’s behaviour last week when the usually talkative child became unusually quiet.
Initially suspecting bullying, she asked her daughter whether anything was wrong at school. The child initially denied that anything was amiss before disclosing the alleged abuse on Friday morning.
“At first, I thought it was bullying. I asked her if there was something wrong happening at school, and she said nothing until she mentioned it on Friday morning, saying that there is something that has been happening in school. And apparently, it’s not the first time,” she said.
The mother described the allegations as particularly distressing because the incident allegedly occurred on school premises during school hours.
“It’s very sad that it happened on the school premises, during school hours. When you take your child to school, you expect that that’s the safest place. I consider educators as second parents when you are not there,” she said.