Pretoria - The 55-year-old Valhalla Primary School teacher accused of sexually assaulting numerous pupils was arrested yesterday, police have said.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini told the Pretoria News last night the man was locked up at the Pretoria Central police station. He is expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.
The teacher has been accused of inappropriately touching 23 children - in Grades 5, 6 and 7 - since last June. The pupils reported him following an awareness campaign by Tshwane Metro Police Department.
“The charge on the docket opened against the accused is sexual assault,” Dlamini said.
Earlier, Dlamini had said that in accordance with the standard procedure, the investigating officer would decide if the police had enough evidence to arrest the teacher.
The Department of Education had so far decided not to suspend the teacher, but rather remove him from the school.
He had been on strict instruction to report for duty at the district office while the investigations into the allegations continued.
The teacher had just been confirmed as a permanent employee by the department last month.
Provincial Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said: “We normally say we are evolutionarily removing an official from school to the district office.
“The feeling was that we can’t be paying people who are sitting at home doing nothing. We would rather have that official at the district office so that they participate in the process of doing some work,” said Mabona.