Statutory Rape of Young Girls: Basic Education Minister's response to Joint Interim Report

Video ATC251127: Joint Interim Report on Statutory Rape of Young Girls of the Portfolio Committees on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Social Development, Health and Basic Education - Dated 26 November 2025 The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education met jointly with the Portfolio Committees on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Health, and Social Development to receive a briefing from the Minister of Basic Education on the government's reply to the Joint Interim Report on the statutory rape of young girls, which the National Assembly had adopted in March 2026. In her opening remarks, the Minister stressed that protecting children from sexual violence in schools could not be the responsibility of the Department of Basic Education alone, and required coordination with Social Development, Justice, the police and provincial departments. The departmental briefing then assessed progress against the interim report's seven recommendations, covering mandatory reporting obligations, restrictions on staff-learner electronic communication, expansion of social worker support, vetting of school staff, resourcing for disciplinary bodies, integrated data systems for tracking abuse cases, and removal of convicted offenders from the school system. DBE acknowledged serious systemic weaknesses as only around 51,000 of about 500,000 educators had been vetted against the sex offenders register, alongside gaps in case tracking, inadequate hearing facilities, and difficulty preventing dismissed offenders from re-entering the system elsewhere. Discussion raised sharp concerns. Members criticised the slow pace of vetting and lack of enforcement despite existing legislation and registers, and pressed for concrete data on prosecutions, dismissals and re-employment of offenders rather than general statements. Several called the engagement insufficiently substantive, demanding measurable outcomes, clear timelines and an implementation plan rather than a repetition of existing frameworks. Other issues raised included the vulnerability of children in rural, township and farming communities; the risks associated with scholar transport falling outside the DBE mandate; the need for social workers to be able to communicate with children in their home languages; potential conflicts of interest in School Governing Bodies, particularly where members were personally connected to educators; concerns that data-protection legislation was being used to obstruct reporting and accountability; underreporting of abuse involving young children; inconsistent mandatory reporting by healthcare workers; and calls for stronger focus on perpetrators and prevention efforts aimed at boys, alongside protective measures for girls. In response, the Minister supported turning the interdepartmental engagement into a standing quarterly oversight meeting. She disclosed that a court settlement with the Teddy Bear Foundation had set a binding deadline of March 2027 for completing public schooll educator vetting, after provincial departments indicated an earlier September 2026 target was unachievable. DBE undertook to provide further data in writing, including statistics from the teaching regulatory body on disciplinary cases and dismissals, and confirmed that scholar transport staff would be included in future vetting. .