A long-serving teacher in Welkom has been found guilty of multiple counts of improper and disgraceful conduct and dismissed after a series of sexual harassment incidents involving a grade 11 pupil.
Ishmael Lefulebe Mokemane, who has taught at Leseding Technical School since 2002, faced four primary charges of sexual assault and four alternative charges of sexual harassment.
At the inquiry by arbitrator held under the auspices of the Education Labour Relations Council, Mokemane was accused of:
- committing an act of sexual assault by sexually harassing a pupil in February 2024, saying to her in Sesotho: “Ako shebe feela hore sebono sa hao se kae (Look at how big your buttocks are)”;
- sniffing the pupil’s neck while she was bending down to collect files from a drawer in his office;
- telling the pupil in March 2024: “You are doing well; for you to obtain good marks, you have to give me what I want,” while she was cleaning his office; and
- approaching the pupil at her desk, touching her thigh and whispering in her ear: “I know what hairy ladies can do.”
The Free State education department also charged Mokemane alternatively of sexually harassing the pupil on all four charges.
The 17-year-old pupil testified as the first witness for the department.
Regarding the first incident, she testified she was leaving the teacher’s office after discussing her face breaking out from “junk food”. The pupil stated that while walking out of the office, the teacher told her in Sesotho that “look at how big your buttocks are”.
While emotional, the pupil testified she did not respond to the teacher’s remark and left the classroom before returning to class.
On the second charge, she testified that while she was bending over to reach for files in a drawer, she suddenly felt someone breathing down her neck. She stated the teacher placed his nose on her neck, told her she smelt good and instructed her to “bring that scent to him” so he could apply it to his own body.
Regarding the third and fourth charges, the pupil’s version was corroborated by another female pupil, referred to as ‘IL’. IL witnessed the teacher’s comments about “giving him what he wants” for good marks and was present when the teacher touched the victim’s thigh and whispered to her.
Under cross-examination, the pupil stated that she told her cousin at home about the incidents and that she never told the teacher that she was uncomfortable about the way she was speaking to her. The pupil testified that she reported the incidents to her English teacher, who then reported them to the principal.
Mokemane denied all the allegations, claiming he was the victim of a “conspiracy theory” and a personal vendetta. He argued that other teachers were using the pupil to orchestrate his removal because he had accepted a post that others wanted for promotional reasons. He further claimed the allegations were entirely made up.
In analysing the evidence, arbitrator David Pietersen noted that the teacher failed to call any witnesses to corroborate his claim of a conspiracy.
While a fellow teacher testified that the office was rarely unoccupied, that witness admitted he was often in his own classroom, making it probable that the incidents occurred while Mokemane was alone with the pupil.
Furthermore, the arbitrator found the pupil’s testimony regarding the third charge was strongly corroborated by the witness “IL”.
“I am not persuaded by [Mokemane] and his witnesses that he was never alone with the learner in his office ... The learner’s version is corroborated by ‘IL’ and that of the teacher is not.”
The arbitrator acquitted the teacher on the main charges of sexual assault but found him guilty of the four alternative charges of conducting himself in an improper, disgraceful, or unacceptable manner by sexually harassing the pupil.
Pietersen deemed the sanction of dismissal to be the only appropriate outcome.
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