Africa-Press – South-Africa. A North West teacher was fired after the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) found him guilty of sexually harassing a 15-year-old Grade 9 pupil.
The council said the Letlopi Secondary School teacher was not suitable to work with children and should be dismissed.
The pupil told the council that when she came from the bathroom with her friend in June last year, her teacher, Jacob Setlhare, arrived to lock the bathroom and told her to meet him at his office.
The pupil added that Setlhare arrived at his office, closed the door and started touching her body to kiss her. The pupil said she refused and pushed the teacher away. She said she ran to her classroom, fetched her schoolbag and went home.
The pupil said she felt “hurt” and “scared” after the incident.
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Setlhare initially denied the allegations but later admitted to the school’s deputy principal that he kissed the pupil on the cheek.
During the hearing, however, he denied kissing the pupil and said he only confessed because of his sour relationship with the deputy principal and threats he received from the pupil’s family.
But ELRC Arbitrator S Fourie found that it was “highly likely” that Setlhare touched and kissed the pupil.
Fourie said:
“In order to show true remorse, a person must be willing to accept guilt for his wrongdoing, must accept that he has done wrong and must accept that some sanction must be imposed.
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“Setlhare was not willing to do that…the refusal by Setlhare to admit guilt and thereby, show remorse for his misconduct is generally considered to be a serious aggravating factor.
“I am satisfied that [the] employer has succeeded in proving on a balance of probabilities that Setlhare has irreparably destroyed the relationship of trust and had made the continuation of the employment relationship intolerable. I confirm dismissal as an appropriate sanction and find dismissal as [a] sanction to be substantively fair.”
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