By Priya Ranchod
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will oppose bail for a 59 year old teacher accused of raping a nine year old pupil at Busisiwe Primary School in Soweto, as the Gauteng Department of Education moves to provide support to the learner and her family.
Kabelo Temba appeared in the Protea Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 22 October 2026, facing a charge of rape following allegations that he sexually assaulted the Grade 4 learner in the school toilets on 6 October.
According to the NPA, the child allegedly told her mother about the incident on the day it occurred. The matter was subsequently reported to the police on 10 October.
Temba handed himself over to the police on Wednesday, 21 October, before appearing in court the following day. His case was postponed to today, 29 October for a formal bail application, which the State intends to oppose.
NPA Gauteng Division spokesperson Magaboke Mohlatlole said the prosecution viewed sexual offence allegations involving children in a serious light and was committed to pursuing such cases with the sensitivity and diligence they required.
“The NPA views allegations of sexual offences against children in a serious light and remains committed to ensuring that cases involving vulnerable victims are prosecuted with the necessary sensitivity and diligence,” Mohlatlole said.
The case has also prompted intervention from Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile, who attended the court proceedings on Thursday after visiting Busisiwe Primary School a day earlier.
Following his school visit, Maile established a coordinated intervention involving the Gauteng departments of Education, Social Development and Health, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other stakeholders responsible for child protection.
The intervention is intended to ensure that the learner and her family receive psychosocial support, trauma counselling and access to appropriate healthcare services. The support will continue throughout the court proceedings and beyond, with the learner’s safety, dignity, emotional wellbeing and education remaining central to the response.
Maile said protecting children from sexual abuse and gender based violence required a united effort from government, families, communities, educators, religious leaders and civil society.
“Sexual abuse against children and gender-based violence represent a deeply disturbing erosion of the moral values upon which our communities should be built. We must unite as a society to confront this moral decay, restore the dignity of our communities and create an environment where children, women and all vulnerable groups are protected from abuse, exploitation and violence,” he said.
The MEC also stressed that communities had a responsibility to stand together against abuse and ensure that violence against vulnerable people was never accepted as normal.
“It takes a village to raise a child, and it equally takes a united village to protect a child. We cannot allow moral decay, sexual violence and the abuse of vulnerable people to become normalised in our communities. We must restore our collective conscience, strengthen family and community values, and stand together against all forms of abuse,” Maile said.
He ended by appealing to the public to remain calm and allow the police investigation and judicial process to proceed without interference or prejudice.
The State is expected to oppose Temba’s bail application when he returns to the Protea Magistrates’ Court on 29 October.