Durban - PUPILS at a Bluff high school on Monday continued protest action that started on Friday, calling for a male teacher to be suspended pending an investigation that he allegedly touched a Grade 11 pupil’s breast.
On Monday parents approached the principal for answers after a tweet went viral, highlighting what had allegedly occurred at the school. The principal did not respond and walked away.
It is believed that the teacher poked a pupil in the breasts during an altercation and, when another pupil protested, he went on to grab the Grade 11 girl’s breast, causing her to run out the classroom for help.
Pupils said the school was rife with racism and intimidation of non-white pupils.
A white pupil said she was ordered to remove braids from her hair.
“I was told by the principal to stop acting black,” she said.
“I joined the protest and our principal singled me out, asking why I joined ‘these people’,” she added.
In a video sent to the Daily News, pupils say they feel unsafe following the incident, which occurred on Thursday.
They said the teacher came to the school at the beginning of the third term and was good to them at first, frequently quoting Bible verses to inspire them.
However, things soon turned bad after he started making sexual references in the form of jokes, and used biblical references to cover them up.
A Grade 11, 18-year-old pupil said the teacher also touched her breasts after calling her into an office to discuss her marks in the subject he teaches her.
The pupils said they were furious at comments by community members, who claimed they were lying.
Three other girls said they were
also touched inappropriately, but had not opened cases since they were minors.
Pupils from a Bluff high school claim that a male teacher has sexually harrassed pupils at the school. Video: Supplied.
The parents protesting yesterday demanded answers from the principal.
A parent, who asked not to be named, said she was fed up with the school’s ongoing problems.
“I pay far too much for my child, to go to a so-called Model C school, to be a possible victim of this,” she said.
The parents wanted the teacher suspended pending an investigation.
Another parent said he was concerned that the female principal did not defend nor show any empathy for the pupils.
“How can a teacher grope a pupil and still teach?
"Why is he not removed?” he asked.
Another parent said the children had received voice notes that they would be severely dealt with should they continue talking to authorities. The author of the note is unknown.
Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu said “the department will certainly look into it”.
Provincial Parents Association chairperson Vee Gani called for the matter to be investigated.
“We must protect our kids at all costs,” he added.
Police spokesperson Nqobile Gwala said 600 pupils at the school disrupted classes on Friday, after a 16-year-old pupil was allegedly assaulted.
“A case of assault was opened at Brighton Beach police station,” she said.