HOER Volkskool principal, Theuns Botha, has finally been suspended from his duties, some two weeks after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in court.
The Times reported the fact that this sexual predator was found guilty and then allowed to return to his duties the very next day.
Gauteng education officials only learned of his suspension after reading the article in The Times.
Yesterday, the Gauteng Education Department said: “The department is of the view that his presence at the school may put other girl learners at risk.”
That it took two weeks for this statement of the obvious to emerge from the authorities is alarming.
A very strong case could be made that Botha should have been suspended when the charges were first brought against him and the case began for the same reason.
What assurance does the public have that this man was not molesting other children while his curatorship of the school continued even as graphic evidence of his awful deeds was being presented as evidence in court?
What is galling is that South Africa’s lenient labour legislation allows him to be suspended on full pay through what may become a lengthy and frequently postponed disciplinary process.
Kevin Barbeau of Women and Men Against Child Abuse put it this way: “We think that the education department should take responsibility and accountability for allowing this sex fiend back into the education systems years ago after his first conviction.”
While it’s fashionable to target hardened criminals with cries of “shoot to kill”, the awful crime of rape appears to pass our leaders by.
It’s time we took a stand to rid our schools of the predators once and for all.

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3. Nel and Selebi should be suspended immediately
4. ANC conference “may be suspended” due to chaos
5. Children’s game: “Kill me, kill me! Rape me, rape me!”