Bonzai High School in Sydenham has been accused of concealing sexual misconduct after two pupils accused a 19-year-old matriculant of sexually harassing them.
The two claims surfaced within six months of each other.
The first incident was reported to the school in February and the second allegedly occurred during winter school on June 30.
Both complainants are in matric, aged 17 and 18.
The latest incident was reported when school reopened on July 19, but the 18-year-old complainant took it further and obtained a restraining order against the boy last week.
This, she said, was after the school allegedly failed to take action against the boy.
The 18-year-old girl said the boy had touched her thighs after trying to forcefully kiss her after they were both kicked out of class for being late.
She said the boy tricked her into going into an enclosed area of the school where he blocked the doorway and allegedly forced himself on her.
As she tried to push him away, the boy allegedly started pulling her by the dress and waist.
“At first I thought he was just playing around but then I noticed he was serious and he ordered me to put my phone away.
“When I eventually fought my way out, I went outside to sit on a bench and he came to sit next to me and started brushing my thighs.
“I got upset and begged [the teacher] to let me back into class,” the girl said.
“[The boy] said if I told anyone [what allegedly happened], he would deny it.”
She reported the incident to the school principal on July 18, but the school was allegedly yet to take action.
The girl’s mother said her daughter reported the incident to her when she became frustrated by the school’s alleged inaction.
“I was never contacted by the school and eventually went to address it myself.
“When I spoke to the school principal, she told me the matter was handled,” the mother said.
“I asked how it could have been handled if they never even called me, but she told me the owner of the school came in and handled everything.”
The boy is allegedly related to a staff member.
The mother believed it was due to this connection that no action had been taken.
The upset 18-year-old said the boy continued to attend the same class as her and allegedly joked to his friends about the matter.
“I felt uncomfortable and unsafe with him in the same class, especially because he continued to joke about it with other people,” she said.
The girl’s mother said the principal had called a social worker, who promised to arrange a meeting with the parents of both parties.
“On the day of the meeting we waited and [the mother of the boy] never showed up.
“When she was contacted, she said she was busy with the department of education and that she would send me an email, which she never did.
“To me it seemed like they weren’t taking it seriously at all,” the mother said.
She then decided to take matters into her own hands and assisted her daughter to obtain a protection order against the alleged perpetrator.
The order was served on the boy last week.
Despite this, the pupils remain in the same class.
In February, the same boy was reported to the school for sexual harassment after he allegedly shoved a ruler between a 17-year-old girl’s breasts during an Afrikaans lesson.
The 17-year-old girl's older sister said the school only offered the girl therapy after the family reported the matter to the department of education.
“It was unfairly handled and we eventually got tired of running after [the department].
“All we know is that the school said the perpetrator would be punished, but we were never told what kind of punishment they were talking about,” she said.
She said the second alleged incident could have been avoided if the school had taken proper action.
When contacted by The Herald on Tuesday, school owner Tracey Potgieter said a disciplinary hearing was scheduled for Friday.
She said the school had done everything in its power to assist both pupils.
“No party has been found guilty or not guilty.
“She has gone to court to get a restraining order and at the moment there’s nothing the school can do, except that we have investigated it and we are having a disciplinary hearing with the department of education on Friday.
“It would be unfair for me to take sides on this,” Potgieter said.
“We have to take into consideration that it involves two learners with equal rights.
“Until one of them has been found guilty, there’s nothing we can do as a school.”
She said the boy was asked to stay at home until the hearing had been finalised.
He had been attending school until Thursday last week.
Provincial department of education spokesperson Mali Mtima said the second case had not been formally brought to the attention of the department, while the first case was dealt with at district level.
“The department visited the school and had interviews with the affected learner to gather more information.
“The boy in question in the first case was suspended from school for a number of days.
“The principal has the report and is awaiting finalisation of the case,” Mtima said.
Though Bonzai was an independent institution that was not registered with the department, all schools were required to report sexual harassment cases to the department, Mtima said.
HeraldLIVE