Action against teacher who made children wipe her vomit

The teacher at Nyibiba Primary School in Ugie who forced children to wipe her vomit has been suspended by the Department of Education, which has stated that an internal investigation is still ongoing.

Mali Mtima, a spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, reports that Mahlubandile Qwase, the Deputy Director-General of the Department, has issued an order for the Joe Gqabi District to immediately suspend the teacher while the investigation is ongoing.

“As a department, we strongly condemn this behaviour. For a teacher who is also a parent, this behaviour is abhorrent and unacceptable. The children will receive counselling,” Mtima stated.

According to reports, this occurred last week in the classroom in front of the Grade 2 pupils, who were between the ages of seven and eight.

Petros Majola of the Khula Community Development Project, who visited the school and is constantly fighting for the rights of children and women, stated that mental evaluation is necessary in the community because what this teacher has done is horrific.

Majola said that when one of the victims described what had transpired to him, he was brought to tears.

“The children said their teacher began by consuming a powdery supplement called phuzamandla, then vomited and instructed them to clean the floor by wiping her vomit,” Majola’s source said.

Majola said that this behaviour affected the children. The vomit was cleaned up by two victims.

In addition, Qwase urged teachers to act as parents to children and uphold children’s dignity.

In the same Joe Gqabi District in 2021, Lubeko Mandela (49), the principal of Luthuthu Junior Secondary School in Ugie, ordered a Grade 4 pupil to retrieve his phone from a pit toilet. The pupil tried to get the principal’s phone and came out smeared in faeces.