Deputy Speaker, the ANC has noted with concern the high rate of misconduct and the unethical behaviour of some school teachers throughout the country. The fact that a large number of these teachers remain in the profession is an insult to all affected parents, students and society at large. Whilst our Constitution, the South African Schools Act, the code of conduct for teachers of the SA Council for Educators, Sace, and the criminal justice system in particular, vehemently denounce all forms of violence and unethical behaviour in the school environment, we continue to see increasing defiance and ignorance of these important provisions of the law. As a result, this tends to undermine government's efforts to create safer and more secure schooling environments.
In its annual report, Sace reported that teachers found to have violated the code of conduct continue to pretend that everything is normal in the system, even though negative findings have been made against them. Provinces and districts also continue to harbour these delinquent teachers because of a shortage of teachers.
The ANC will not sit back and allow a situation which threatens the lives of our vulnerable and unsuspecting children. We therefore call on provinces and districts to root out these unethical teachers from the system before it gets discredited. I thank you.