The DA in Limpopo condemns the latest incident of sexual assault by a teacher at a primary school in the Capricorn District.
The 58 year-old teacher, arrested yesterday after allegedly sexually assaulting a 13 year-old girl between November 2024 to March 2025, will appear in the Mankweng Magistrates Court today.
A StatsSA report on child victims of crime based on SAPS crime statistics from 2022/23 indicate that Limpopo recorded the highest number of rape cases against children at 54.3%, the highest nationally. The percentage of sexual assault has increased steadily from around four percent in 2010/11 to around six percent in 2022/23.
The report found that 60% of sexual assaults nationally took place in the day, which is indicative that children in our communities are not safe, but more importantly that schools can no longer be considered safe spaces.
The DA has repeatedly called on government to prioritise the following areas to put an end to sexual abuse of learners at schools:
- Proper vetting processes must be implemented for all basic education teachers, support staff, coaches and general workers.
- Schools must be encouraged to report all sexual offences to SAPS. There is a need for punishments for those who do not report such acts.
Schools are a microcosm of our communities, and we must implement all forms of strategies to ensure our learners are safe from such threats. Not only should we use education as the best tool for gender-based violence (GBV) prevention, but we must implement immediate strategies to protect our learners from predators.