School gang rapes prompt urgent action

Two school gang rapes have prompted the Gauteng Education Department to change its protocols.

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Johannesburg - Two brutal gang rapes at primary schools in recent weeks have prompted the Gauteng Education Department to change its protocols in dealing with these incidents, and to overhaul the unit responsible for addressing these crimes.

On Monday, a 7-year-old girl and her friend were reportedly sexually assaulted by a group of older boys at the Rebontsheng Primary school in Vosloorus.

And, while the alleged perpetrators have been suspended, the school’s governing body has come under investigation by the Gauteng Education Department to determine what steps it took after the attack.

A similar incident in June saw three young girls raped in a field by other pupils at a Pretoria East Primary school.

The two incidents have sent shock waves through the department, with Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi on Thursday rushing to Rebontsheng Primary School to speak to the parents of the victims and perpetrators of the crime, as well as the head of the school governing body.

Department spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane said the MEC was shocked at the condition of the school and by the incident itself, and realised a complete review of the protocols on how schools respond to these crimes, was needed.

On Friday morning, Sekhonyane said that a team of departmental officials would also be convened to examine the Psychosocial Services Unit, a departmental unit that provides care and support to victims of such crimes in schools. The programme had been criticised for its slowness, and thus the entire unit would be “reviewed and repositioned”, she explained.

Sekhonyane said a time frame had not yet been established as to when the protocols and the unit would be altered, but that it would be soon.

Shain.germaner@inl.co.za

The Star