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The teacher, whose name is known to Sowetan, taught at a school in Swartruggens, North West. He resigned last week following fresh allegations that he had sexually assaulted pupils at the school.

The 49-year-old teacher is currently being investigated by the department after a number of pupils complained about him.

North West department of education spokeswoman Bayanda Zenzile confirmed the investigation.

"The teacher has indeed resigned over sexual assault claims. The matter is with our labour unit and we shall wait on the findings, which we anticipate shall be soon."

Regarding the teacher's previous conviction, Zenzile said: "He was charged of a similar claim at a previous school and was dismissed."

Asked why there was no background check on the teacher before he was employed at the current school, Zenzile said that would only become clear once all the investigations had been concluded.

Themba Ndlhovu, from the South African Council of Educators, said he was hopeful there would be a speedier process of recording sex offenders on their website.

He said while some provincial education departments were cooperative, others were still slow in reporting teachers who abused pupils.

"We have not received full cooperation from some [provincial] departments. They are supposed to inform us about such teachers. KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Mpumalanga have been cooperative, but others not so much."

Thabo Sematle, of the SA Democratic Teachers' Union in North West, said such cases "bedevil" the department and the union.

"It is things such as these which continue to embarrass us. We certainly do not expect this from a teacher, someone who is supposed to be a parent to the learners."

He also took a swipe at the education department, saying more could have been done to prevent the situation from happening.

"It's the department's carelessness in their handling of this matter. It exposes a lack of planning to track down their employees."

- selebim@sowetan.co.za

Comments

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Wed Jun 19 19:59:01 SAST 2013 ::

Oct 22, 2012

sechaba30

Rubbish is what is in his mind
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Oct 22, 2012

Chichi7

How did he get another job without the school following up on referrals?
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Oct 22, 2012

Printa

NW... what happened 2 Limpompo, Ec & KZN?
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Oct 22, 2012

Pointman

I am sure there is a policy in place to do background checks but either HR was lazy or thought "this is such a nice guy - I am sure his background is okay". And innocent kids end up being exposed to predators. These people are expert manipulators - a nice compliment or a small present buys a lot if influence.
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Oct 22, 2012

Arewanga

Just arrest him already, they are going to show him in jail.
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Oct 22, 2012

mashima?

It is clear that somebody did not do his job properly, backgorund check should be considered before someone is even shortlisted. This man need professionl help.
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Oct 22, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

Why wasnt he arrested the 1st time?
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Oct 22, 2012

RobinHH

@ SIN... That's the 64,000 dollar question, isn't it?
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Oct 22, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

RobinHH - Bwhahaha! Oom troublemaker :P
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Oct 22, 2012

!#Sinudeity#!

Where is MommaCC?
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