Kimberley - Disciplinary proceedings against the four Northern Cape Agricultural High School (Hoër Landbouskool Noord Kaap) pupils accused of raping and assaulting a fellow pupil at the school’s hostel in Jan Kempdorp, will commence this week at the school.
During the incident, which was captured on video, the four pupils allegedly raped the victim by inserting a toothbrush and mop handle into his rectum after tying him to a bed and smearing a white substance over his naked body and then shaving off his eyebrows and hair.
The four, two of whom are 18 years old, one a 15-year-old and the youngest being a 14-year-old, were suspended from the school on February 9 and will face a disciplinary committee on Thursday and Friday, after the unavailability of legal representation caused a postponement from the original date of February 25.
Northern Cape Department of Education spokesman Sydney Stander said on Monday that the School Governing Body (SGB) disciplinary tribunal would conclude its “mandate of the process” and then report back to the SGB.
“The SGB will then take a decision about the necessary disciplinary action and communicate the decision to the head of department,” Stander said.
According to Stander, new amendments to the South African Schools Act meant that even if the boys were found guilty and expelled from the school, the department still had the responsibility to find another school for them.
He added that it would only be possible to see if the boys showed remorse for their actions during the proceedings (scheduled for March 12 and 13).
He further said that none of the charges against any of the four learners were dropped by the school’s SGB, following media reports that charges were dropped against the youngest accused, reportedly because there was “a lack of evidence”.
All four also face criminal charges and are scheduled to appear in the Jan Kempdorp Magistrate’s Court on April 9.
Stander said that the victim’s parents have reversed a previous decision that their son would not return to the school. They now want him to do so with a psychologist’s guidance.
The victim’s spokeswoman, Carina du Toit, an attorney at the Centre for Child Law, said that as it was likely that the victim would be a witness in the criminal proceedings, no information that may lead to his identification may be published.
“He (the victim) is likely to be a witness in the criminal proceedings and will fall within the protective provisions of section 153(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act which means that no information may be published that may lead to his identification. This would include any information about his education and residence,” Du Toit said.
“Our client’s constitutional and common law right to privacy outweighs any interest that readers may have in personal information requested, which is in any event not the same as being ‘in the public interest’,” Du Toit added.
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