A northern KwaZulu-Natal high school principal has been arrested following allegations that he sexually assaulted a pupil, police said on Monday.
Police spokesman Captain Nkosie Gwala confirmed the arrest of the 47-year-old principal, but declined to provide further details.
“The principal of KwaZidwe High School was arrested in Nongoma for sexually assaulting a learner. He will appear in court soon,” she said.
This came as a teacher in the province made a brief appearance in the Nquthu Magistrate’s Court for raping two pupils from the high school at which he taught.
His arrest on Sunday night came after a video showing the sexual encounter with the pupils made headlines after it went viral on social media early this month. The teacher, whose name cannot be released, faces two counts of rape, two counts of sexual grooming and one count of sexual assault.
National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the case had been postponed to September 7 for a bail hearing.
Two weeks ago, KwaZulu-Natal Education Department spokesman Kwazi Mthethwa said there were six pupils, aged either 14 or 15, who had come forward claiming they had been sexually assaulted by the teacher.
The legal age of consent in South Africa is 16, but the Schools Act prohibits sexual relations between teachers and pupils irrespective of their ages.
According to Mthethwa, a task team had been set up to investigate the allegations.
It was not immediately clear whether or when the department would lay further charges with the police in respect of the other five alleged victims.
Apart from sexual harassment and rape cases, the provincial Education Department has had to deal with corporal punishment incidents in recent times. In June, another Nongoma school, Prince Tokototo High, made headlines after a video of a geography teacher dishing out corporal punishment went viral online. The teacher, who was suspended, was seen on the video beating five pupils.
It emerged during a visit by MEC Mthandeni Dlungwane that the school governing body had been warned regarding corporal punishment just months before the incident and that the same teacher had beaten a child until she wet herself in front of her class.
“It must be clear to all that we will not allow the abuse of children,” Dlungwane was quoted as saying at the time.
African News Agency