School Violence Crisis: 1.1 million South African Pupils Affected
Afternoon Drive with John Maytham · 3 June 2026 · 6m
Speaker 1: Right, much more sobering stuff next, because new data from Statistics South Africa has revealed Speaker 1: a very unsettling picture of school life across the country, more than one point one Speaker 1: million pupils reporting that they have experienced violence within the school environment, and this was Speaker 1: looking at the twenty twenty four school year. What was even more concerning is that Speaker 1: the figures suggest that in many cases, the perpetrators of that violence were not fellow Speaker 1: learners or outside elements, but teachers themselves. Now, obviously this data, timed for release during Speaker 1: Child Protection Week, raises a lot of red flags, and the findings show that roughly Speaker 1: one in every eleven learners has experienced some form of violence at school. We want Speaker 1: to take a closer look at what these figures tell us about what's happening in Speaker 1: the education system and whether this is entirely linked to an inability to give up Speaker 1: the attachment to corporal punishment, or if it's more than that. Joining me on the Speaker 1: line is Basil Manual, executive director of NAPTOSA, the National Professional Teachers Organization of South Speaker 1: Africa. Basil, thanks for your time this afternoon and welcome to the show. Speaker 2: Papa could afternoon and it's a pleasure to be with you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Obviously very deeply concerning we figures. We want our kids to be safe Speaker 1: when we drop them off at school, and we know that sometimes the threat that Speaker 1: the threatens their safety comes from outside the school environment. But I'm sure a lot Speaker 1: of parents will be horrified to imagine that it comes from inside the school environment.…
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