As teachers battle with assaults by pupils at schools‚ the department of basic education says it has measures in place to ensure that pupils are held accountable for their actions.

Here is a step-by-step process followed by the department in disciplining pupils who attack teachers at schools:

– The pupil is suspended from school for five days.

– After five days of suspension‚ a disciplinary hearing is held.

– When the hearing is concluded‚ the pupil is sanctioned.

Sanctions‚ according to Limpopo education spokesperson Sam Makondo‚ vary depending on the type of offence the pupil has committed.

“The sanction can be anything between expulsion of the pupil or relocating them to another school‚” Makondo.

According to the South African Schools Act‚ assault is one of the offences that can lead to expulsion as it is viewed as serious misconduct.

The department was asked to outline its policy following the emergence on Tuesday of a video showing two female pupils kicking and assaulting a teacher. It is not yet known when or where the assault occurred. At the time of publication of this article‚ the department had not been able to establish the veracity of the footage.

According to the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu)‚ assaults on teachers are a worrying trend. “Such incidents seem to be escalating at a rapid pace. We condemn the incident. The law should take its course‚” Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi told TimesLIVE earlier on Tuesday.

In April‚ the Sunday Times reported that hundreds of pupils have faced disciplinary action in the past year for offences ranging from assault‚ intimidation‚ drug dealing and sexual violence.

According to the newspaper‚ Limpopo education officials alone have handled 942 cases of serious pupil misconduct in the past 12 months. The province’s statistics revealed 358 pupils were involved in physical abuse‚ including assaulting other pupils.

Since January last year‚ Gauteng schools have expelled 151 children‚ 31 of them for assaulting teachers and other school staff.

She rocked the baby on her lap‚ pleading with God to spare his life and not to claim one who has only spent eight months on this earth.

Tulonga Neputa‚ 35‚ a mother of two‚ now jokes she has a third son after rescuing eight-month-old Dex Heger after he was flung from the bakkie he was travelling in with his grandfather.

His grandfather‚ Frank Heger‚ died at the scene‚ along with the four occupants of the second car involved in the collision last Thursday on the road between Windhoek and Okahandja in Namibia.

Although she appreciates the messages of thanks for her selfless deed‚ no thankfulness can match her own‚ after she finally got to meet little Dex and his family again.

“I was so worried about that boy. When I had to hand him over to the paramedics at the accident scene‚ I prayed and prayed he would be okay‚ because I did not know if his parents were killed in the accident.”

Marah Louw doesn’t believe in witchcraft or muti but was left shaken and traumatised after a woman claimed she was sent to take the star’s “luck” and “get rid” of her.

Marah told TshisaLIVE this week that a young woman started leaving bottles and containers with dark liquid outside of her gate at her parent’s house.

Marah, who is currently staying at her parent’s house while recovering from a hip replacement, said her daughter first found bottles outside her gate just over a week ago. When they poured the liquid in the bottles out, the next day another bottle appeared.

Marah claims they caught the culprit as she was smearing  black liquid on the gate. The person allegedly claimed her dead brother had appeared to her in a dream and told her to smear the gate.

“I am a Christian, a God-fearing and praying person. I don’t believe in that (muti) but I was traumatised. It was so bad, I didn’t know what would happen next. I didn’t even want to drive after that in case something would happen to me,” Marah said.

Marah was going to get a restraining order against the woman but instead reached out to the social development department to try get the woman some help.

“People have visited her and said she is not well. She is apparently traumatised and in grief after she lost her brother last year. I don’t believe it was witchcraft. I think it was grief. Maybe God sent her to me to help her. We will work with her.”

Meanwhile, Marah says she is recovering well from her hip replacement surgery and is in no rush to return to screens after leaving The Queen under a cloud several months ago.

“I am just taking it easy and also writing. I am writing all kinds of things, scripts and notes. There isn’t necessarily another book in the works but I am not getting any younger and I have to create opportunities for myself. My days of sitting at the phone and waiting for opportunities to find me are over.”