Over 16,000 teachers have criminal backgrounds, including rape

Civil rights organisation, Action Society has launched a petition to demand that the national sexual offenders list be made public. This comes after a recent study conducted by the National Association of School Governing Bodies revealed that over 16 000 teachers in South Africa have a criminal background, including rape, murder, assault, theft, robbery, fraud, drug-related crimes, housebreaking and serious road infringements.

The organisations have raised concerns that in South Africa, the Register for Sexual Offenders is not available to the public and added that parents have no way to check up on the people they trust their children with.

“Action Society demands that the Sexual offenders list be available to the public. Privacy laws shouldn’t protect perpetrators of sexual crimes” said Action Society’s Juanita du Preez

Action Society therefore launched the petition to demand that the Register for Sexual Offenders be made public.

According to Du Preez, this study should serve as a wake-up call to all parents in South Africa and shows that there are sexual offenders and rapists teaching children, and parents have no way to be made aware of it.

“We trust these people not only to educate our children but to keep them safe, and now, even these institutions pose a risk to their safety and wellbeing.”

The organisation further pleaded with parents to ensure that they talk to their children about different forms of sexual abuse and ensure that their children are able to identify and flee such situations if possible, and always report inappropriate behaviour.

“There seem to be no safe places left for children in South Africa.”

Recently, the organisation was mandated to oversee the case where a creche transport driver sexually molested a young girl, whilst elsewhere, a teenager was raped by a pastor. In two of its biggest cases, toddlers were abducted from parks while playing, only to be found brutally murdered a day later.

“Publishing the register for sexual offenders will be a big step in the right direction. Predators don’t deserve privacy.”