It Was Their Dirty Secret

The parents of girls who were allegedly sexually assaulted by a Soweto school guard demand answers from the school and authorities

- Khosi Biyela

THE girls made pinkie promises to the school principal that they would never ever share their awful secret. It would be bad for the school, they were told. Just leave it. Don’t say anything.

One of the kids did break down and tell her mother but then begged her not to do anything about it. She’d get into trouble at school, she said.

But the secret is finally out – and it’s caused ripples of horror around the country and prompted authorities to cast their net even wider in the hope of stopping a similar situation elsewhere.

The principal and her entire management team have been removed from the AB Xuma Primary School in Orlando East and a man employed as a security guard has appeared in court on 44 charges of child abuse.

However, as many as 87 young girls were assaulted and more charges could be added. It’s the worst case of mass sexual assault in the country’s history, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufihas admitted.

Today the school playground at AB Xuma Primary School is swarming with youngsters, singing, chatting and chasing one another around.

Despite the shroud being lifted on the goings-on, the kids appear carefree.

Their parents, however, are fuming and huddle in small groups, speaking in furious whispers.

They’re demanding answers to their questions – and top of the pile is why the principal and her staff didn’t act immediately when the matter first raised its ugly head.

“I know this man. I used to take the bus with him,” one furious father says.

The 57-year-old guard worked at the school for less than a year, after he was reportedly recommended to the school by the local community policing forum, where he was a member.

For the parents of the young victims – most of whom are aged between six and nine – the man’s arrest is cold comfort.