Two Cape Town teachers dismissed as WCED probes two assault cases and principal

Two teachers at a Northern Suburbs high school in Cape Town have been dismissed after the Western Cape Education Department investigated allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct that date back to 2024.

As CapeTown ETC reported on 17 September, neither educator remains at the school. The department’s communications director, Bronagh Hammond, said the allegations of abuse, assault and misconduct were treated with the utmost seriousness, and that investigations led to disciplinary proceedings against the educators where appropriate.

Two were dismissed. A third educator retired while disciplinary proceedings were pending. A fourth resigned while facing charges, and a Code 90 block has been placed against that person’s name, which means they cannot be re-employed anywhere in the education sector.

Two assault-related matters remain under investigation. Allegations concerning the school’s principal have also been investigated and are now being dealt with through the applicable disciplinary processes.

What the department’s record shows

The department’s own records show that misconduct allegations at this school have been dealt with over several years, with some matters concluded and others still pending. That is not a new problem arriving at one school. It is a file that has been open for some time.

Among the allegations reported were claims that a male Business Studies teacher paid a male learner for sexual favours, and that another male teacher was in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female learner, with communication over WhatsApp, the exchange of explicit images and travel in the teacher’s car.

The reporting that surfaced these matters came from whistle-blowers, including learners and educators at the school, who raised concerns about learner safety and called for an independent investigation.

What the state did, and what it can do

The department has a defined instrument for exactly this situation, and it used it. Section 17 of the Employment of Educators Act allows for dismissal where misconduct is substantiated, and the Code 90 block is the mechanism that keeps a dismissed educator out of the sector rather than simply out of one school.

That is the part of the system that worked here. A resignation during a disciplinary process does not automatically end the matter, and the block against the name means the outcome follows the person. The department said it would continue taking disciplinary action where misconduct is substantiated and would maintain its focus on protecting learners.

What remains open is the two assault investigations and the principal’s disciplinary process. Those are live matters, and the department has not put a date on when they will conclude.

The wider pattern in the Western Cape

This case sits alongside other matters in the province.

Earlier in 2026, an educator at Forest Heights Secondary School in Eerste River was dismissed following an arbitration process concerning allegations of inappropriate touching and sexually suggestive comments towards a female learner. The Education Labour Relations Council heard that the incidents occurred during 2025. The teacher, Cornwell Henry Joseph, denied the allegations, but the arbitrator found the evidence supported the charges and determined the conduct amounted to sexual assault and sexual harassment. The department said Joseph was suspended during the investigation and was no longer employed by it.

In a separate Cape Town matter, the Wynberg Regional Court found former teacher Iain Wares guilty of indecent assault relating to an incident involving a Grade 5 learner at Rondebosch Boys’ Primary School in 1988. The verdict, delivered in March 2026, came almost four decades after the incident. The complainant, identified as Stephen, was 10 years old at the time and told the court Wares had inappropriately touched him at school. Wares denied the allegations and said he could not remember Stephen. Magistrate Vanessa Miki found Stephen’s evidence credible and reliable and concluded the State had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Authorities in Scotland are examining more than 100 allegations connected to Wares, and his South African proceedings were continuing with sentencing expected to follow.

What parents and learners should watch for

For a parent at any Western Cape school, the practical question is not only whether a case was opened. It is whether the outcome followed the person. The Code 90 block is the answer to that question in one of these cases, and it is the reason the department’s handling of the resignation matters as much as the dismissals.

School governing bodies, district offices and the department’s safe schools programme all carry a duty to report and act on complaints. Where a learner or a staff member raises a concern, the record shows the route is a complaint to the school principal, then to the district office, and then to the department’s directorate responsible for employee relations. Whistle-blowers at this school used that route, and the process followed.

The two assault investigations and the principal’s disciplinary process are the next matters to conclude. The department has not said when that will be.

Source: CapeTown ETC, Two teachers dismissed after sexual misconduct allegations at Cape Town school.