Cape Town - Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer has criticised the actions of the teacher at Sans Souci Girls' High School in Newlands, Cape Town, who was caught on camera slapping a pupil during a heated confrontation.
"I want to state categorically that the actions of the educator are unacceptable. Any form of corporal punishment in our schools will not be tolerated.
"Officials of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) visited the school Tuesday morning. As the teacher in the video is a School Governing Body appointee, the SGB is meeting today to discuss the disciplinary steps going forward," Schäfer said.
The video on social media shows the teacher engaged in an argument with the pupil. The teacher can be heard admonishing the girl for having her cellphone at school in contravention of the school's code of conduct.
In the clip, which is about one-and-a-half minutes long, the rest of the class looks on helplessly as the pupil repeatedly backchats the teacher who appears to grow more and more agitated.
During the incident, which reportedly happened on Tuesday, the girl accuses the teacher of swearing at her and this appears to escalate their confrontation.
When the teacher confiscates the pupil's cellphone the girl pushes past her to take to phone from the teacher's table. At this point, the teacher becomes visibly overwrought and slaps the girl, to the horror of her classmates.
"An investigation into the incident is underway. The investigation will determine whether the learner will also face disciplinary action. Learners in the class have been asked to make a statement regarding the events that led up to the incident. There is further video evidence that has been edited out of the version being circulated" Schäfer said.
"I am aware that some commentators on social media platforms are immediately assuming that the incident is race related. While I understand their anger at the images displayed on the edited version of the video, we cannot assume that this was racially motivated. We ask that the public allow the SGB to investigate the incident before such conclusions are made."
On Tuesday morning, learners at the school held a peaceful protest in Assembly in support of the educator, stating that the incident was not race related.
Schäfer added that the department is very aware of the many disciplinary challenges educators face daily in schools, however, the use of violence to deal with learners that show signs of behavioural issues or are ill-disciplined cannot be tolerated.
** To comment on this story, write to arglet@inl.co.za. Responses must include full names, addresses, and contact details (not for publication).
@TheCapeArgus