The Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) failure to thoroughly vet 3400 scholar transport drivers against the Child Protection Register (CPR) puts the safety of learners at risk. This failure could lead to incidents of sexual harassment against learners and expose them to inappropriate materials.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng will report GDE to the South African Human Rights Commission, requesting a forensic investigation into the vetting crisis in this department.
This shocking information was disclosed by Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) MEC, Matome Chiloane, in reply to DA questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
See full reply here.
Section 126 (1) of the Children’s Act clearly states before a person is allowed to work with or have access to children at an institution providing welfare services to children, including a child and youth care centre, a partial care facility, a shelter or drop-in centre or school, the person managing or operating the institution, centre, facility, shelter or school must establish whether or not that person is deemed unsuitable to work with children.
The MEC should hang his head in shame for endangering our learners’ lives by failing to vet drivers who have unrestricted access to children during their daily commutes to and from school. Furthermore, he places the responsibility of vetting on bus owners as employers. The departments failure to vet school transport drivers comes of the back of another fiasco where it was found that 12 teachers convicted of sexual offences were allowed to teach school children.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would implement the Children’s Act placing strong emphasis on thoroughly vetting all individuals who work with our learners to ensure the safety and well-being of every learner and to prevent any potential risks.
The DA will continue to pressurise the Gauteng Department of Education to ensure that all individuals working with our children are properly vetted without any further delay. This is essential to protect our learners from any potential criminal intent that could endanger their future.