Mr Speaker, before their appointment all educators, school staff other than teachers and any other persons who will be unsupervised while interacting with learners are screened for convictions of any crime including crime related to sexual misconduct, as well as any disciplinary action related to sexual misconduct
The reply to the second part of the question takes cognisance of the provision of section 120(c) of the Children's Act, Act 38 of 2005, which states that -
A finding that a person is unsuitable to work with children may be made by ... any forum established or recognised by law in any disciplinary proceedings concerning the conduct of that person relating to a child.
Speaker, my department is working closely with the South African Council for Educators, Sace, since it is the body responsible for dealing with cases of misconduct of educators.
The South African Council for Educators has developed a register of educators who were found guilty of sexual misconduct which the various provincial education departments use to screen educators who are potential employees. Furthermore, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has also developed a register.
The department calls it the Child Protection and Sexual Offences Register and it is used to register sexual offenders, irrespective of whether they are educators or not. Only the names of educators who have been convicted in a court of law appear in this register.