A Free State maths and physical sciences teacher who kissed a grade 8 pupil has been fired and declared unfit to work with children.

Lawrence Letolo lost his battle to keep his job on Thursday after an Education Labour Relations Council arbitrator found him guilty of contravening the Employment Educators Act. Letolo was accused of conducting himself in an “improper, disgraceful or unacceptable manner when (he) kissed a grade 8 learner on the cheek”. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The learner testified that on October 11, 2022, she was on her way from the toilet when she met Letolo on the stairs. She said Letolo asked her to accompany him to his classroom. Letolo then asked her to kiss him. 

“She stated she then kissed [Letolo] on the cheek. The learner stated that the employee said no and told her that he wants it on the mouth. She stated that at that point, [Letolo] became distracted by a lady who called him from downstairs,” the ruling reads. 

“The learner stated she then left [Letolo] and went to her classroom. She stated that the [Letolo] told her he wants her telephone number before the end of the day. She stated she left after school without giving the number and that she told her two friends and parents about the incident.” 

The pupil stuck to her version under cross-examination.

“She added that [Letolo] also pinched her and another learner under their armpits earlier on the same day for having laughed at another learner. The learner added that she was not angry about the pinching incident and that [Letolo] did not apologise for it,” the ruling reads. 

Letolo told the arbitrator he was a married father of five. He said the pupil was unhappy about the pinching incident and had accused him of pinching her harder than others.

“[Letolo] testified he apologised to the learner and took her hand and gave her a shoulder-to-shoulder touch, as a token of making peace,” the ruling reads. “He denied having ever asked the learner for a kiss on that day or having kissed her.” 

But arbitrator advocate David Pietersen found Letolo’s version “problematic and not plausible”.

“The [Letolo] is in a position of loco parentis at the school and is not permitted to make any romantic gestures towards learners. Worse so, when the learner is a child, like the learner in this case,” Pietersen said.

“[Letolo’s] conduct is not just contra bonos mores (against the good morals of society), but he has equally so, violated his professional codes and the law. The evidence shows that the [he] managed to persuade the learner to kiss him, albeit on the cheek. Had it not been for the lady who distracted his mission, I have no doubt that he might have received the actual kiss on his mouth, as anticipated.” 

Pietersen said the evidence also showed the kissing incident was not the [Letolo’s] first misconduct for the day.

“The employer’s witnesses testified the employee also assaulted the learner, earlier on that day, in the form of pinches under the armpits. Even though [Letolo] was not formally charged for it, this by itself aggravates the severity of the employee's disregard for the law. Those pinches also amount to corporal punishment, something that has been declared unlawful a long time ago,” Pietersen said. 

“Not only did [Lotolo] commit acts of corporal punishment on that day, but so too did he commit an act, which has sexual connotations attached to it. It is clear from the evidence that [Letolo] cannot be trusted around children, children whom he is expected to protect. As a parent of five children, I find it hard to believe the employee would engage in such misconducts.” 

Pietersen found Letolo guilty and ruled he be dismissed “with immediate effect”. He also found him “unsuitable to work with children”.

TimesLIVE