Sace lists 17 educators struck off over serious misconduct - TimesLIVE

The South African Council for Educators (Sace) has listed 17 cases of educators struck off its register during the first two quarters of the 2025/26 financial year, with offences ranging from sexual grooming and assault of pupils to examination fraud.

The cases involve schools in seven provinces: the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape.

Several of the cases involve sexual misconduct against pupils.

The council had aimed to process 600 cases through investigations and hearings but managed 384. It also aimed to finalise 120 disciplinary hearing cases after ratification by its ethics committee but finalised 91

The report also lists three examination fraud cases: one at Khaiso High School in Limpopo and two separate entries at Thandanani Primary School in Mpumalanga.

In the Eastern Cape, an educator at Sive Special School for the Deaf was listed for the sexual assault of pupils.

In Mpumalanga, a case at Nganana Secondary School involved the failure to report the severe assault of a pupil.

An educator at Ratang Thuto High School in the Northern Cape was listed for sexual harassment of a pupil.

The report shows that Sace fell woefully short of its target to submit finalised sanctions to the teachers’ employers for enforcement within a year after the appeal process. The council had set a target of 100% but achieved only 6%, with one of the 17 cases submitted within the reporting period.

“The sanctions were finalised in the 2025/26 financial year. However, 16 of them were only sent in the 2026/27 financial year,” the report states.

It attributed the late submission to “the external appeal process, which has been significantly delayed”.

Sace also fell short of its targets for processing cases carried over from previous reporting periods.

The council had aimed to process 600 cases through investigations and hearings but managed 384. It also aimed to finalise 120 disciplinary hearing cases after ratification by its ethics committee but finalised 91.

The report attributed the delays partly to inadequate staffing, which limited the investigation and resolution of complaints, as well as external factors that affected the processing of cases. Other challenges included:

There should really be little tolerance for people who abuse power. And that starts at the top

The council said it would prioritise serious and urgent matters, strengthen follow-ups during investigations and improve co-ordination with stakeholders and institutions.

Education expert Prof Kobus Maree said it was important to ensure that public trust in the teaching profession was maintained or restored where necessary.

He cautioned against allowing the conduct of a small number of educators to cast doubt on the entire profession.

“The overwhelming majority of teachers or educators are conscientious, ethical, deeply motivated, caring individuals,” he said. The actions of a small number of educators were “casting aspersions on the entire profession”, adding that this was “really deplorable”.

“There should really be little tolerance for people who abuse power. And that starts at the top,” he said.

Maree pointed to the power imbalance between teachers and pupils, as well as between teachers and their superiors, saying these needed to be addressed.

On pupils’ safety, Maree said children should not go to school fearing that they would be bullied or that they would have no one to turn to because of the position held by the people involved.

He said he had encountered children who were bullied at school by children of people in positions of authority and who believed there was nothing they could do about it. “That is deeply concerning,” he said.

Maree said allegations of misconduct needed to be taken seriously and appropriate action taken without unnecessary delays.

He believes teaching should be recognised as a profession rather than merely an occupation, with everyone involved understanding their moral and ethical responsibilities.

Maree suggested that a continuing professional development system could help strengthen accountability, provided it was designed to support teachers rather than make them feel threatened or burdened by additional responsibilities. He said such a system should offer opportunities for learning led by skilled professionals.