After a teacher was caught kicking a toddler on camera, a team of social workers was dispatched to the early childhood development centre in Phoenix where the alleged incident occurred.
KZN Social Development MEC, Nonhlanhla Khoza reportedly condemned the abuse and called on police to act swiftly to arrest the perpetrator.
“It doesn’t matter whether the ECD is privately run, but child protection is our responsibility. Children’s rights are contained in the Constitution. We are not going to tolerate any abuse of children. We call on the law enforcement agencies to make an example of the people who abuse our children,” she said. The Department will wait for the social worker’s report to determine what steps need to be taken against the institution in question.
Khoza said that the social workers will also meet with the parent of the children and with the principal of the ECD. The teacher who was caught on camera kicking the toddler has reportedly been dismissed and charged.
The child hurt his forehead, nose and mouth in the incident. The child’s father, Preshalin Pillay said that he noticed the wounds when he picked up his child from the crèche. He said that the teacher claimed the child fell and hurt himself but he decided he wanted to see the CCTV footage to see what happened. After hesitation, he finally saw the footage and saw that his son was kicked.
Pillay claimed that this was not the first time that his son had come home with bruises from school and that he opened an assault case against the teacher. KZN police spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that the police were investigating an assault case.
“A case of assault was opened for investigation by Phoenix SAPS after a 2-year-old child was assaulted while at a crèche in Phoenix on September 23. The docket has been transferred to the FCS (Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences) Unit for further investigation,” said Gwala.
Sources: MSN, News Chant
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