The prohibition against corporal punishment is an integral part of the broader
transformation of South African education. The prohibition seeks to replace South
Africa’s violent and authoritarian past with an ethos respectful of human dignity
and bodily integrity.
The legal framework encapsulated primarily in the South African Schools Act
84 of 1996 and its subsidiary legislation establishes a ‘coherent and principled
system of discipline’. This system includes a prohibition against corporal
punishment. It also includes the requirement that school governing bodies (SGBs)
develop codes of conduct at schools through participatory processes. These codes
prescribe the rules of a school that learners must adhere to. The codes also establish
disciplinary processes where learners have transgressed rules. The prohibition
against corporal punishment is entrenched at both a national and a provincial level
in South Africa.
The ban against corporal punishment seeks to give effect to learners’ rights in the
Constitution. Section 10 guarantees everyone’s right to dignity. Section 12(1) states
that everyone has the right to freedom and security of person which includes the
right: (c) to be free from all forms of violence; (d) not to be tortured in any way and;
(e) not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way. Section 28
(1)(d) states that every child has the right to be protected from maltreatment,
neglect, abuse or degradation.
This was confirmed in the Constitutional Court case of Christian Education SA v
Minister of Education. The prohibition also seeks to give effect to South Africa’s
international obligations most notably, in terms of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
(ACRWC).
Despite the protection afforded to learners against corporal punishment, the
practice is rife in South Africa schools. According to Statistics South Africa’s latest
GHS data, 15,8 per cent of all learners experienced corporal punishment in schools
in 2012. This figure amounts to approximately 2.2 million learners who
experienced corporal punishment in 2012. In some provinces the incidence is
significantly higher than in others. Moreover, in some provinces the incidence is
increasing.