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Teacher accused of raping girls
22/05/2007 14:48 - (SA)
Nkosana ka Makaula and Glacier Nkhwashu
Tzaneen - A teacher accused of taking two pupils to his house on Friday and raping them all night appeared in the Ritavi Magistrate's Court on Monday.
He was released on R1 500 bail and will reappear on June 13.
The teacher, who teaches the girls English at a high school in Nkowankowa near Tzaneen in Limpopo, has not been asked to plead yet.
Provincial education spokesperson, Ndo Mangala, said the teacher would be immediately suspended.
"If the teacher is employed at the same school the learners go to, then we shall have to suspend him immediately to avoid traumatising the learners any further," he said.
He said the teacher would be subjected to internal disciplinary proceedings.
"If we find him guilty, he will be dismissed," said Mangala.
Mpumalanga has experienced similar problems of teachers having sex with girls at their school.
The South African Educators Council (SACE) is investigating allegations that a principal and teacher kept a sponge mattress at school and had sex with under-aged girls.
The SACE registers professional teachers and if the principal and teacher are found guilty, they may be banned from ever teaching again.
The Mpumalanga education department suspended both the principal and teacher earlier this month after a string of community protests in which the men were accused of impregnating two girls.
The teacher has also been arrested and charged with statutory rape and will appear in the Mhala regional court again on June 19. He is out on R1 000 bail on condition that he stay away from the girl and her family.
The teacher and principal worked at a high school in Ludlow village near the Manyeleti Game Reserve in Mpumalanga.
- African Eye
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