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Corporal punishment at KZN school caught on video; department investigating

screengrab of the video
screengrab of the video

Kwazulu-Natal education MEC Mthandeni Dlungwane will on Tuesday travel to a KwaNongoma school in the north of the province after a video emerged showing a teacher beating at least five matric pupils.

The video‚ posted on Facebook‚ shows the girls holding on to the back of a chair while being hit with a stick on the buttocks. It appears that the video – which was uploaded by Makhi Zihlangu on June 21 – was taken by one of the pupils in the class where the corporal punishment happened.

TMG Digital was alerted to the video‚ which has been viewed more than 382‚000 times‚ by KZN education spokesman Muzi Mahlambi on Sunday afternoon.

The video starts with one girl being hit twice on the buttocks‚ before walking away in pain. But the teacher grabs her hand and drags her back over to the chair and hits her two more times‚ before making her turn around and hitting her on her hands three times.

The teacher then pulls another girl over‚ and hits her six times in quick succession on the buttocks. This happens to another three pupils‚ while some of the pupils in the class can be heard laughing.

While details of the incident were still being gathered‚ Mahlambi said the department had launched an investigation because corporal punishment had been outlawed. He said Dlungwane would visit the school on Tuesday.

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