The release of this report follows receipt of a formal human rights complaint alleging sexual violence by an educator at St John’s College in Mthatha, Eastern Cape. Subsequent media reports and additional allegations underscored that the incident was not isolated but indicative of a broader systemic problem. To this end, the SAHRC convened a Stakeholder Roundtable on Sexual Violence in Schools. The Roundtable brought together key state institutions, regulatory bodies, independent school associations, and civil society partners to (i) map the institutional ecosystem responsible for preventing, investigating, prosecuting, and regulating sexual offences in schools; (ii) identify legislative, regulatory, reporting, and implementation gaps; and (ii) develop collaborative pathways to prevent siloed responses and strengthen safeguarding mechanisms.

Statistical data from the presentations of the South African Police Service (‘SAPS’), state departments, and regulatory bodies reveal that sexual violence against children is not episodic or anecdotal but systemic and entrenched. Some of the findings include the following: 

• High volumes of child abuse cases are recorded annually (26,855 cases in 2024/2025; 9,857 sexual abuse cases).
• SAPS recorded 2,826 child sexual offence charges in 2024/2025.
• The South African Council of Educators recorded 826 sexual misconduct complaints between 2021 and 2025.
• A significantly smaller proportion of reported incidents result in a formal conviction, deregistration, or a safeguarding listing.
• A documented shortfall of 10,748 convicted offenders not yet entered on the National Register for Sex Offenders illustrates attrition between conviction and safeguarding listing.
• Delayed reporting compromises forensic evidence.
• Prosecution for non-reporting by adults of sexual abuse of a child appears rare or undocumented.
• Victim intimidation, socio-economic pressure and case withdrawals undermine prosecution.
• Sports coaches, facilitators, assistants and youth employment participants do not fall uniformly under the educator regulatory structures.

The report shows that South Africa does not lack legal frameworks addressing sexual violence in schools. Rather, the crisis lies in fragmentation, delayed integration, an incomplete register population, and uneven enforcement. Labour dismissal does not automatically trigger professional deregistration. Professional deregistration does not automatically result in inclusion on the safeguarding register. Criminal convictions do not automatically populate every relevant database. Screening remains employer-initiated rather than system-automated.

The report contains clear recommendations to close systemic gaps, address institutional weaknesses, encourage coordinated and integrated approaches, and tackle socio-cultural contributors. The Commission is grateful to stakeholders for their frank and constructive contributions. The Commission will follow this report with three main interventions: institutional accountability, community and school outreach, and policy reforms.

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Ends

Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission