Pretoria - Scores of media personnel flooded the Pretoria Magistrate's Court when an educator accused of sexually assaulting at least 23 pupils appeared to face counts of sexual assault charges.
The 55-year-old Valhalla Primary School teacher allegedly touched pupils inappropriately from June last year.
He was reported this January by the pupils following a safety awareness lesson at the school by metro police officers.
Spokesperson for the Department of Education Steve Mabona said the department was happy with the arrest.
He said all stakeholders should not influence the children to avoid the case being tossed out of court.
The court told the accused that he needed to understand and appreciate the seriousness of the case against him before he appears in court next week on Wednesday.
He could be eligible to make his bail application next week if the National Prosecuting Authority successfully verifies his physical address and checks his criminal history.
Prophet Mboro and #NotInMyName activists also showed up at court to condemn all sexual assaults on pupils across South African.
"We need to lose this culture of assaulting and abusing children. I don't know where this comes from but it needs to go. We cannot keep attending such matters in courts. Learners should be our children, not our women."