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President Jacob Zuma has expressed his concern for young girls and the challenges that face them.
“Connected to the question of safety in our schools is the empowerment and protection of [girls]. You as young leaders must therefore see the opportunity to bring to the fore the plight of the [girls] in our communities and schools,” said Zuma, who was speaking at the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) Learn Without Fear convention rally at Orlando Stadium in Soweto, Johannesburg. He was joined by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
“We welcome the initiative by Cosas called the Mantombazane convention, which is aimed at building leadership qualities among girls and simultaneously dealing with a variety of challenges faced by school girls on a daily basis. This type of initiative is necessary if we are to successfully conscientise and mobilise the whole of society to deal decisively with – among other things – the evil tendency by some of our male teachers to prey on and harass vulnerable young girls.”
Zuma – who left what is sure to be a tense national executive committee meeting this weekend, at which there were calls for him to be recalled – went on to express his concern at the growing number of indecent relationships between pupils and their teachers.
“As leaders and learners you also have a responsibility to instil confidence among girls to report to the authorities any attempt by any adult, including teachers, to establish an unsavoury and indecent relationship with them. You must ensure that the relationship between learners and teachers mirrors that of a parent and a child at all times,” he said.
“You must do this with full understanding that any other relationship between learners and teachers which is not informed by parental love contaminates the school environment and will inevitably erode any prospect of meaningful teaching and learning by the same measure this conference must address the troubling phenomenon of teenage pregnancy.”
Before Zuma’s address, Cosas secretary-general, Khulekani Skosana announced that they wanted to send a clear message to the president of the Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, that they were not afraid of him and that Parliament did not belong to the EFF.
