A Johannesburg primary school teacher has been dismissed after admitting to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old pupil during private maths lessons. 

The former teacher from EP Baumann Primary School in Johannesburg was dismissed after a ruling by the Education Labour Relations Council last week. 

The award came after the teacher's guilty plea in which he admitted to fondling the male pupil, from another school, who he was tutoring in maths last year. 

“During the lessons at the victim’s home, [the teacher] would put his hand on the victim’s thighs and move it slowly to his private parts and grab his penis hard. When the victim’s dad walked into the room, he would immediately stop and continue with the lessons. The victim would push his hand away. One day he reported the incidents to his brother. The brother informed the father, who reported a criminal case with SAPS.”

In her analysis of mitigating and aggravating factors, commissioner Mmamahlola Gloria Rabyanyana agreed with the Gauteng department of education that she needed to send a message to deter potential transgressors from committing this “horrendous act”.

“The objective is to protect and safeguard the future and dignity of young learners. [The teacher] had committed the offences on four separate occasions with no intention of refraining from same, until the victim reported the incidents. The victim's pushing of his hand away from the private parts failed to deter him from repeating the act.

“It was not an isolated incident but a habit. In my view, [the teacher] is a habitual offender. I find him unsuitable to work with children.”

He was found guilty of sexually assaulting a pupil and dismissed.

His name will be entered in part B of the National Child Protection Register.

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