Gauteng learners remain at risk due to the shocking failure to vet teachers and staff in our schools. The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) MEC Matome Chiloane stop paying lip service to learner safety and urgently address the poor screening of teachers and staff to protect learners.
This follows two separate sexual misconduct scandals at Bronkhorstspruit Primary School and Princehof School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Teachers are implicated in allegations of sexual abuse and improper conduct involving learners.
These incidents highlight the GDE’s failure to implement a thorough vetting process of teachers and staff. This negligence has compromised learner safety and created a dangerous environment that is both traumatic and hindering to the learning process.
What is more concerning is the claim that, in at least one of these cases, the school was informed of the incident as early as 2024, but took no action. This failure to act not only shows gaps in safeguarding learners but also undermines trust between parents, learners, and school leadership.
The DA has repeatedly raised concerns about the department’s inability to adequately vet educators and all other personnel working in schools against both the Child Protection Register and the National Register for Sex Offenders. Our concerns have clearly been ignored, and this has allowed potential offenders to slip through the cracks of a flawed vetting process.
It is high time that MEC Chiloane walks the talk on learner safety. He must immediately suspend the implicated educators and ensure that the legal process is followed. There can be no tolerance for delays or cover-ups when the well-being of children is at stake.
The DA will table questions to the MEC to ascertain the steps, if any, taken by GDE to strengthen vetting procedures. Transparency is essential if the public is to have any confidence in the department’s ability to protect learners.
A Gauteng Provincial Government led by the DA would prioritise proper vetting in our schools. When allegations of improper sexual conduct arise, we would ensure that they are swiftly, fairly, and transparently investigated.
The DA will continue to hold the GDE and its MEC accountable for failing to convert our schools into safe havens for learners instead of trauma sites.