SECTION27 believes it has a strong case against two teachers who allegedly assaulted pupils in grades 2 and 5.
This as the public interest law centre has approached the Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday, 26 February.
This was in a bid to ensure the two teachers are given fresh hearings by partly appealing a judgment by the North Gauteng High Court.
This as they believe both teachers received lenient sanctions from the South African Council for Educators (Sace), which were based on its internal policy called the mandatory sanctions policy.
Speaking to Daily Sun after the court proceedings, Section27 spokeswoman Pearl Nicodemus said they were confident in their case but would however wait for the court to decide.
"The court proceedings went well. There's no ruling yet, but I think that will come out in a few months. So, we made our case and Sace made their counter arguments, but we are waiting on the court to make a ruling. We presented a very strong case before court, and we are really confident," she said.
According to Nicodemus, in court both Section27 and Sace argued their cases.
For Section27 they questioned why Sace didn't involve the parents or give them an opportunity to be heard or present their side of the story during the hearing.
She said to this day in court, Sace couldn't give reasons why.
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In 2019, two teachers were reported to Sace for serious assault on young pupils. In the first incident, a grade 2 pupil was allegedly hit on the head with a PVC pipe. In the second incident, a grade 5 pupil suffered a lasting ear bleed, leading to her repeating a grade after a teacher allegedly hit her on the cheek and head.
When Sace upheld the matter in 2019, the teachers were fined R15 000 of which R5 000 was suspended. The sanctions included striking their names off the teachers' roll, which was suspended for 10 years, allowing them to return to the classroom.
But Nicodemus said the sanctions were lenient.
“This means that these teachers are still teaching in the classrooms with no consideration for pupils’ safety and no obligation on the teachers to correct their behaviour,” she said.
While the matter in court still continues, Sace spokesman Risuna Nkuna said they have made their submission and await the decision on the court.
"We have already made submissions to the court and sought its guidance on the matter. We therefore treat the matter as subjudice," he said.
"We shall comment after judgment has been delivered by the SCA," he said.
