Schools are meant to be places where children learn, grow and feel safe.
Instead, a damning new report has found that sexual violence has become entrenched in South African schools, exposing systemic failures to protect learners despite years of laws, safeguarding policies and repeated warnings.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has found that sexual violence in schools is widespread and deeply entrenched, with abuse allegedly committed by educators, fellow learners, school staff, service providers and outsiders. While the report was prompted by allegations of sexual abuse involving educators at St John’s College in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, the commission said the evidence points to a far broader national crisis affecting schools across the country.
The report titled “Sexual Violence at Schools: A Crisis of Fragmentation, Delayed Integration, Incomplete Register Population, and Uneven Enforcement” notes that in the 2024/25 financial year, 26 855 child abuse cases were recorded, including 9 857 cases of sexual abuse. Over the same period, the SAPS also registered 2 826 charges related to child sexual offences.
The South African Council for Educators received 826 sexual misconduct complaints between 2021 and 2025. However, the Commission found that only a small proportion of reported cases resulted in convictions, educator deregistration or inclusion on safeguarding registers.
