Learners speak out despite alleged threats from school Principal

By: Abigail Visagie

Tensions continue to at St. Bernards’s High School in Bloemfontein, where more learners have emerged to lay complaints and sexual harassment charges against predatory educators. One such learner is 19-year-old Lesedi Mohlakoa na who was sexually harassed by an educator while at her matric camp back in 2024. The educator in question allegedly requested Mohlakoana to send him naked images of herself. After declining the educator’s requests and inap propriate advances multiple times, the educator al legedly resorted to sending naked photos of himself to the pupil. His persistence pushed Mohlakoana to take matters into her own hands and she posted about this incident on 10 August 2025, urging other girls to speak out against predacious teachers. “I saw he was surrounded by a lot of children and seemed to be a (normal) teacher, so I decided to break this cycle before it happens to another child,” she told Journal News. Mohlakoana now fears to enrol at university as she now believes that this inappropriate behaviour by educators is probably a norm everywhere. Another pupil, Kgomotso Mokobe, who was in grade 12 at the St Bernard’s received a direct message on social media from the same educator confessing his undying love and feelings for the pupil. “He once called me to his office and asked me to close the door. When I refused to, he closed it himself and confessed his feelings directly to me, mentioning that he felt this way about me since I was grade 8. I only decided to act upon his feelings now because it was the right time,” said Mokobe. Emotions of disgust flushed through Mokobe as she recalled this incident. “I was very uncomfortable and just wanted to exit the room, but he forced the door close and begged to speak to me,” said Mokobe. On 21 August 2025, Mapaseka Feldman, was also followed on social media by the very same educa tor who harassed Mokobe. inappropriate for a teacher to send learners such derogatory content, my friend said maybe he mis took the girl in the video for me, but I still believed that it did not give him the right to send such sexual content to me.” Feldman briskly escaped a horrible experience with the educator by immediately blocking his messages and his profile. Ntswaki Mohlakoana, the mother of Lesedi, takes pride in her daughter speaking out against such violations and being a beacon of hope to other girls who might be afraid to speak up. the PEC had resolved to prioritise urgent intervention in Mafube, Moqhaka, Letsemeng, Nketoana, Nala and Masilonyana local municipalities, as well as the Lejweleputswa District Municipality — areas plagued by persistent audit disclaimers, weak leadership, and corruption allegations that have crippled service de livery. This decision followed an oversight visit by Parlia ment’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Govern ance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), which exposed widespread dysfunction in municipalities, including billions in missing funds, sewage spills, illegal tenders, and critical staff shortages. Parliamentary committee chairperson Dr Zweli Mkhize described the state of Free State munici palities as “disastrous,” a view echoed in the Audi tor-General’s latest report, which flagged rampant irregular expenditure, lack of accountability, and nu merous audit disclaimers across the province. Yet, according to sources within the ANC’s pro vincial leadership, the removal of municipal troikas is less about governance and more about factional battles ahead of the party’s looming national general council (NGC) in December. “We are facing difficult times now where two fac t ions are looking to position themselves in the prov ince. Comrade Polediso is not going to win this fight “I am afraid we are going to witness yet another scenario where the ANC’s internal battles play out in public, dragging the party’s name through the mud for a long time. The question is, will they take the party to court if the secretary general’s response is not in their favour? That, I fear, will damage the party even further.” The unfolding dispute in the Mafube region under scores the deepening cracks within the ANC’s provin cial structures, where governance failures and politi cal manoeuvring increasingly collide. As the NGC approaches, the ANC faces a critical test. The first test pertains to whether the party can restore stability and credibility in troubled municipal ities or allow internal battles to further erode public trust. “I was surprised that he followed me, but I was more shocked after he sent me a video of a girl twerking,” said Feldman. She added: “I asked my friends whether it is “My daughter makes me so proud and for her sake, I hope that justice will prevail,” stated the mother. The girls appeared in the Bloemfontein High court after opening cases against the educator and will appear in court again in October. Learners from the St Bernard’s high school spoke to Journal News about the injustices happening at the school and mentioned that their pleas or complaints simply falls on deaf ears. Ntswaki Mohlakoana, mother of sexually harassed learner. Picture: Baagedi Setlhola “Our principal threatened us that if we were to speak out against our teachers no matter how un comfortable they make us feel, our case will simply FRIDAY Saturday die,” said one learner. Another learner mentioned that there were no longer religious activities taking place since January because the principal allegedly fought with the fathers, causing disruptions in the school. “I no longer feel safe to be at the school, I don’t even want to interact with teachers, nor do I want them to interact with me because I am afraid that I might be one of the educators’ next targets,” said a grade 11 pupils.