A new video – apparently of corporal punishment being administered at a KwaZulu-Natal school – has emerged on Facebook, leaving members of the public shocked.
Ndabezinhle Sibiya, spokesperson for Premier Willies Mchunu, saw the video and commented in his personal capacity that it was “the most horrific clip” he had ever seen.
“That man is a danger to the learners … You (the KwaZulu-Natal Education Department) have dealt with many of these but this one has left me numb. This teacher is attacking a learner as if this is a stick fighting contest,” he wrote.
The almost two-minute long video was posted at midday on Monday.
It appears to show a male teacher violently thrashing a child and throwing her around his classroom. It starts as one girl’s beating appears to be ending, with her receiving a blow to her back and walking off in tears.
The teacher then zeroes in on another girl.
She heads for the door but he corners her and lays into her as she screams.
Departmental spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said his office stood firm “against all forms of violence in our schools including corporal punishment”.
Mthethwa confirmed on Monday afternoon that the school at which the video was filmed had been identified as Umdlamfe Secondary School, in Esikhawini near Richards Bay.
By that time, district officials had already visited the school.
Mthethwa said the department would be taking "harsh action".