The parents of a two-year-old toddler who attends Just Junior’s Pre-Primary and Crèche in Centenary Park, Phoenix, are outraged after viewing footage of an educator allegedly assaulting the little boy at the crèche.
Concerned parents and members of the community staged a protest outside the crèche last Monday, demanding the removal of the principal and immediate dismissal of the educator. The child was allegedly found to have sustained lacerations on the nose and a swollen forehead. It is alleged that this was not the first time the toddler came home with bruises on his body. The child’s father, Preshalin Pillay, told The Phoenix Tabloid that since last year, when his son was a year old, he was allegedly coming home with blue marks, bruises, gashes and cuts. The incident took place on 22 September. “I was always told he ran into something and hurt himself. This time around, we had dressed him up for Heritage Day and sent him to school – he was perfectly fine with no bruises or cuts on his face that day. When I picked him up at the crèche, I noticed that he had cuts on the nose and his head was swollen. When I questioned the teacher she made excuses and laughed it off,” claimed Pillay. “My son was in tears, I went home and this whole thing wasn’t sitting well with me so I went back to the school to find out what really happened to my son. I called the school while parked outside the gate and requested to view the footage of how my son injured himself. We were made to wait outside the premises for a long while which I found very strange, so I forced myself inside the premises and saw them editing the footage. I asked them to play the video. They started playing the video on a high speed so I requested they play the video on normal speed and that’s when I saw what really transpired,” further alleged Pillay.
According to Pillay, the educator allegedly booted his son, slapped him, pulled him towards her knee at which point he allegedly hurt his forehead and allegedly struck him from the back as the child walked away. “The footage immediately shows the teacher grabbing and assaulting another child. There’s been numerous complaints from parents which have been previously brushed under the carpet,” he claimed. “We send our kids to crèche and school and entrust their teachers to protect them within the school environment but they go and do the opposite – they ill-treat and abuse our kids. I lost my daughter in 2018 and I refuse to lose my son due to abuse by a teacher. He is my bundle of joy. Action must be taken against her – she must never be allowed to teach again or she will continue doing the same to other children,” said an irate Pillay.
Pillay said a case was opened with Phoenix SAPS and investigations are ongoing. He added that his child, who he will not be sending back to the crèche, was at home suffering from headaches and pain from the injuries. The Department of Social Development has since launched an investigation into the allegations of abuse at the Phoenix crèche. Spokesperson for the department, Mhlaba Memela, said the initial reports suggest that it was an accident. Phoenix Communication’s Officer, Captain Louise Naidoo, confirmed that a case has been opened with SAPS Phoenix and police were investigating a common assault case. Community leader, Jonathan Annipen, who was part of the community protest outside the crèche, said the incident is outrageous to say the least. “What is more disturbing is that this is not an isolated incident where this child is concerned but there are reports emerging that there are other children at this crèche who also had the same fate meted out to them. We are utterly disgusted by the alleged behaviour of this educator.
It is appalling to find that persons who are entrusted with the welfare of our little children violate that trust in such atrocious ways,” said Annipen. “It is also most disturbing that the school and its owners would much rather protect their financial interests and defend such ignominious actions instead defending innocent children. The response of the school’s principal is absolutely inexcusable. We demand to know if every educator employed at the institution is registered by the South African Council of Educators and if they have the relevant training and qualifications. Parents pay hefty prices to have their children placed at such establishments and should be entitled to the best possible service. We demand answers from the school and we will be requesting the intervention of the Department of Education and Social Development as well,” added Annipen.
A response from the management of Just Juniors Pre-School and Creche, which came through their attorneys, stated, “Disciplinary action had been taken against the teacher who has since been dismissed. The principal of the school visited the child when he was taken to hospital for X-Rays. The school paid for the X-Ray and report. The X-Ray report confirmed that there were no broken bones and that the child suffered abrasions to the face which would have most likely have been from the carpet he was playing on. The principal of the school contacted the parent and grandmother of the child to establish how the child was doing over the weekend,” the statement read. “Whilst the management of the school is saddened by the fact that the child was hurt whilst at school, the school denies the reports that the child was “booted” as alleged by the grandmother and further denies that the child was seriously injured as alleged by the family.
The school has a copy of the X-Ray report evidencing this. This was the only complaint that the father had reported to the school and the school denies any further allegations, and has no knowledge of any prior incident occurring. At the same time whilst accepting that accidents do occur, the Management of the School does not condone any conduct which gives rise to injuries to its pupils especially through the deliberate and unlawful conduct of any of its employees.” Management of the school is conducting a full investigation into what happened and confirms that it will fully co-operate with any investigation by the South African Police Services or any other governmental department.
