KM said every time the teacher came to her class after the incident, he would ask the pupil to drop the case. She decided to record their conversation when he realised that his plea to her to the drop the case was persistent.
“In the audio he is heard promising to do everything for her, including to promote her to the next grade if she dropped the case.
“He further offered to make her pass her travel and tourism subject with 200 marks by giving her a memorandum and past question papers. He promised to give them the scope for the exams.”
The teacher is also heard on the audio telling her not to say anything. He asked her not to attend the hearing which was scheduled for the following day on October 9 2023.
“She promised him that she would not attend.”
The arbitrator said on October 19 2023, the pupil refused to testify, she was emotional and weeping.
“She indicated to the intermediary that she was not going to testify at any stage, even in the future. This development presented itself upon the (teacher) arriving at the inquiry driving with her mother and aunt in his car,” Rabyanyana said.
The teacher submitted that he brought the pupil’s mother with him because she was his witness. The situation prompted the postponement of the proceedings.
Rabyanyana said she was convinced the pupil might have been threatened and subpoenaed her to testify.
The teacher, in his testimony, denied touching the pupil’s buttocks and said he had a teacher-learner relationship with her. He also denied having conversations with the pupil about the case.
The teacher said he fetched the pupil’s mother and aunt to attend the inquiry. The teacher said the mother told him that she had spoken to KM’s uncle about the matter and the uncle proposed dropping the case, and that he [the teacher] must pay R5,000. The mother told the teacher she would accept a minimum of R4,000.
“When he told her that he did not have the money, she threatened to share the audio recording with the employer’s representative,” the arbitrator said.
The mother testified that she and the pupil’s uncle never solicited money from the teacher in exchange for dropping the case.
In analysing the evidence, the arbitrator said she found the teacher not to be a credible and reliable witness.
“His version at the inquiry is contradictory and also contradicts what he mentioned in the audio.”
Rabyanyana said the teacher did not only interfere with witnesses, but he was engaged in the negotiation to get the case to disappear.
“He did so brazenly with full knowledge and awareness that his action would implicate him.”
Teacher who touched pupil's buttocks found guilty of misconduct, dismissed
Image: 123RF
A Gauteng teacher who sexually inappropriately touched a grade 10 pupil and later tried to coerce her into not testifying against him and also tried to reach a deal with her mother to have the case dropped has been dismissed.
The incident took place at Mpontsheng Secondary School in Katlehong on October 24 2022 when the teacher, who had been employed at the school since 2016, grabbed the grade 10 pupil, known as KM, inappropriately by her buttocks at his office.
“Fearing he would rape her, she pushed him away and ran to her class. She did not scream as she was shocked, confused and upset,” the arbitrator at the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), Mmahlola Gloria Rabyanyana, said in her award made on August 23.
Rabyanyana said the pupil was crying on her way back to the classroom. Her friends, PD, OM and KK realised she was distressed.
The arbitrator found the teacher, who was teaching grades 11 and 12, guilty of misconduct in that he conducted himself in an improper, disgraceful and unacceptable manner while on duty.
Rabyanyana said KM related the incident to her friends and they were shocked that the employee conducted himself in that manner.
KM, who was 17, reported the incident to her mother when she arrived home. The following day, her mother and aunt reported the incident to the principal. The pupil was called to the office to view the camera footage with two deputy principals, the principal, her parents and the teacher.
“The footage showed her following the (teacher) up the stairs till close to his office. Her mother was angry and viewed the employee as a predator who targeted learners,” the arbitrator said.
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KM said every time the teacher came to her class after the incident, he would ask the pupil to drop the case. She decided to record their conversation when he realised that his plea to her to the drop the case was persistent.
“In the audio he is heard promising to do everything for her, including to promote her to the next grade if she dropped the case.
“He further offered to make her pass her travel and tourism subject with 200 marks by giving her a memorandum and past question papers. He promised to give them the scope for the exams.”
The teacher is also heard on the audio telling her not to say anything. He asked her not to attend the hearing which was scheduled for the following day on October 9 2023.
“She promised him that she would not attend.”
The arbitrator said on October 19 2023, the pupil refused to testify, she was emotional and weeping.
“She indicated to the intermediary that she was not going to testify at any stage, even in the future. This development presented itself upon the (teacher) arriving at the inquiry driving with her mother and aunt in his car,” Rabyanyana said.
The teacher submitted that he brought the pupil’s mother with him because she was his witness. The situation prompted the postponement of the proceedings.
Rabyanyana said she was convinced the pupil might have been threatened and subpoenaed her to testify.
The teacher, in his testimony, denied touching the pupil’s buttocks and said he had a teacher-learner relationship with her. He also denied having conversations with the pupil about the case.
The teacher said he fetched the pupil’s mother and aunt to attend the inquiry. The teacher said the mother told him that she had spoken to KM’s uncle about the matter and the uncle proposed dropping the case, and that he [the teacher] must pay R5,000. The mother told the teacher she would accept a minimum of R4,000.
“When he told her that he did not have the money, she threatened to share the audio recording with the employer’s representative,” the arbitrator said.
The mother testified that she and the pupil’s uncle never solicited money from the teacher in exchange for dropping the case.
In analysing the evidence, the arbitrator said she found the teacher not to be a credible and reliable witness.
“His version at the inquiry is contradictory and also contradicts what he mentioned in the audio.”
Rabyanyana said the teacher did not only interfere with witnesses, but he was engaged in the negotiation to get the case to disappear.
“He did so brazenly with full knowledge and awareness that his action would implicate him.”
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Rabyanyana said it was strange for a parent whose daughter had been sexually violated to seek assistance and find comfort and joy in the alleged perpetrator’s car. If she did not know the hearing venue, she could have asked the principal.
“The only inference I could draw from this peculiar conduct is that the purpose was for the employee and the mother to negotiate a bribe. KM’s mother corroborated the employee’s version that she discussed the R5,000 payment of money with her brother on the way to the hearing.”
She said KM’s mother was not telling the truth when she testified the teacher overheard her telephonic conversation with her brother, while on the way to the hearing, which was on the speaker.
“The truth is that (the teacher), KM’s mother and uncle participated in that deal negotiation meeting.”
Rabyanyana said sexual misconduct against schoolchildren and adolescents was a serious offence and the teacher had abused his position as an educator and in place of a parent.
“The community at large had entrusted him as an educator to care and protect learners. However, he destroyed that trust relationship. KM expected care and protection from her educator, instead he was a predator,” Rabyanyana said.
TimesLIVE
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