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Following the guilty plea of disgraced former water polo assistant coach Collan Rex, on 144 charges of sexual assault, Jozi school Parktown Boys’ High School was put under the microscope.

We covered Rex’s story two weeks ago, including some graphic details of further sexual crimes he stands accused of, but if you thought the problem was down to one sick former pupil you’d be wrong.

The latest report, released by Peter Harris of Harris Nupen Molebatsi Attorneys, was commissioned by the Gauteng Department of Education.

Here’s the Daily Maverick with the details of that “explosive report”:

These practices include “sexually predatory behaviour” by senior pupils against junior pupils, a culture of assault and sexual assault under the guise of “initiation practices” and “profoundly shocking” utterances made by teachers in the presence of pupils.

“While it is a problem at most schools, it would appear that this has become a generational practice at Parktown Boys,” Harris said…

“One needs to acknowledge that, unfortunately, since 2009, initiation practices that involved quite severe assaults have taken place and that there have been allegations of severe initiation practices taking place at various camps on various occasions and in various sporting teams over the years,” Harris said.

One of the initiation practices that came under scrutiny was from a 2017 water polo camp, where a child was lashed under the encouragement of a teacher who was known for condoning such behaviour.

That same teacher was also found to have brought a stripper to the school.

Harris’ report stated that many of the assaults were never reported because of the school’s so-called “code of silence”:

“The code of silence is less about honour than it is about covering up abuse and in some cases severe sexual abuse. This is not about telling on your mate, it is about covering up criminal acts,” Harris [pictured below] said.

Harris stated that allegations of sexually predatory behaviour of senior pupils against junior pupils, which allegedly took place in 2014 and 2015, and where the alleged perpetrators had already matriculated, were part of a criminal investigation.

“Certain of the statements made by witnesses make for very grim reading, I’m afraid to say. While there are a number of allegations against certain educators, the educators involved are very few in number compared to the total staff complement. We’re talking about four or five,” Harris said.

One of those four or five is a teacher labelled Educator E, who features in a “profoundly shocking” recording:

“The transcript of him addressing learners is one which reflects disgraceful profanity, insults, humiliation, and sexual references as to what takes place in the hostel. He has no concept of how to behave as an educator.”

Harris believes that some teachers were prone to turning a blind eye to the school’s practices as they were former pupils, and had themselves suffered similarly when students.

Also included in the report was the fact that there had been at least five incidents of drug abuse at the school each year for the past five years, with the majority taking place in the hostel.

As the report makes clear, and as already stated, the educators accused are in the vast minority. That being said, there seems to be a clear ‘code of silence’ culture that remains pervasive at many all boys high schools around the country.

Parktown Boys’ won’t be the last school that comes under scrutiny for this culture, but as it stands, the school needs to engage in some serious introspection.

In a letter by headmaster Malcolm Williams, addressed to the parents of students at the school on August 27, that process has already begun, and they have also announced that they are now using The Guardian Schools anonymous reporting app.

You can read more about that app here.

[source:dailymaverick]