1. Introduction:
The Department of Higher Education and Training is responsible for Universities (of all types), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges and Community Education and Training (CET) Colleges.
The Department published the Policy Framework to Address Gender-Based Violence in the Post-School Education and Training System on 17 July 2020 (Government Notice 410 of 2020). The strategic objectives of the Policy Framework are:
Create an enabling environment in the Department and Post-School Education and Training (PSET) institutions to ensure the effective implementation of the Policy Framework, actions and programmes. These include: regulations, norms, standards, guidelines and standardised procedures; structured engagements with other Government departments, agencies, entities and non-governmental organisations; institutional policies are implemented; as well as accountability, monitoring and evaluation. The Policy Framework not only allows for the participation in and the establishment of national structures and mechanisms intended to enable implementation of PSET institutions’ policies, but also gives a monitoring mechanism to collect and report on relevant and strategic data and information.
Promote the safety of all students and staff by putting in place comprehensive prevention and awareness programmes intended to raise the importance of policies and services addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV), as well as other measures aimed at preventing incidents of GBV in PSET institutions. PSET institutions are also required to exercise sufficient degrees of control over third parties such as visitors to the university or college, as well as employees of companies contracted to provide some form of service to the institution. The Policy Framework also protects staff and students that are placed in workplaces to complete practical training.
PSET institutions must provide for comprehensive support and assistance and refer the survivors of GBV appropriately to specialised support and assistance. This support and assistance must be properly and systematically recorded and appropriately reported. The support must be in line with the National Instructions, National Directives, List of Designated Health Establishments and Additional Services directives under the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act (SORMA) (Act 32 of 2007). PSET institutions must therefore ensure that affected parties receive multi-disciplinary support including, where appropriate, support from HIGHER HEALTH, Thuthuzela Care Centres and local health facilities. The Department, HIGHER HEALTH and PSET institutions must provide guidance around the structures, mechanisms and processes that are in place to address GBV in line with national regulatory framework and international obligations. PSET institutions should develop and review internal anti-GBV policies in line with the Policy Framework (July 2020).
It is the responsibility of PSET institutions to implement the Policy Framework at institutional level. The Department monitors the implementation of the Policy Framework and is finalising the Social inclusion Review and Implementation Model (SI-RIM) that is a mechanism to provide information for reporting purposes.
HIGHER HEALTH, in collaboration with several Departments (including the Department of Higher Education and Training), experts and institutions developed Institutional Implementation Guidelines and supporting protocols and standards for Institutions to address GBV.
2. Sexual Offences and GBV data/information:
Reporting of sexual offences cases by individuals remains low in all PSET institutions because of several factors such as the fear of stigmatisation, unwillingness of survivors to expose perpetrators (especially in cases of intimate partners) and the fear of possible further victimisation and harassment. Students and staff are encouraged by the Policy Framework and Guidelines to promptly report any GBV cases to campus security or the GBV ‘Responsible Office’ and to the South African Police Service (SAPS) [According to the SORMA].
Reporting structures and procedures of sexual offences are clear in all policies. The Department collects strategic and relevant information from institutions annually. It does not require information on individual cases. Some institutions have a secure online system for recording, monitoring and analysing data, however, they do not provide data to the Department.
In specific:
3. Answers to Questions
Question 1 (a): What is the total number of students have reported sexual offences (assault) in the institutions of higher learning in each province (i) in the past three academic years and (ii) since 1 January 2022.
This question cannot be answered as requested due to different data sources and dissociation of data. The following data has been provided:
TVET College Data
TVET Colleges are managed through 6 Regional Offices that combines North-West and Mpumalanga; Northern Cape and Western Cape; and Free State and Gauteng. The other regions are Limpopo, Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. Furthermore, the data recorded for all the years was submitted by TVET colleges and is not verified. For 2019 and 2020 there was no standardised tool for reporting of data, while in 2021 colleges reported online through the Survey Hub. The reports from colleges varied as such this cannot be taken as a true reflection of what transpires in colleges.
The TVET Branch utilises the Survey Hub to collect data from colleges on various areas of student support services. The last report was developed in December 2021 and the findings were as follows:
2020 data was collected from colleges but are not disaggregated. The types of incidents reported are physical assault (15 cases), rape (26 cases), sexual assault (16 cases), touching and innuendo/insinuation (9 cases), incest (9 cases) and unwanted sexual touching (11).
Colleges reported cases of physical assault (15) and rape (15).
CET College Data
Of the 9 CET Colleges, only 2 colleges reported cases viz.: Gauteng and Western Cape CET Colleges. In the past three years Gauteng has reported six (6) cases of sexual harassment and the Western Cape reported 2 cases. 2 students in Gauteng reported cases since January 2022.
HIGHER HEALTH Data
HIGHER HEALTH provides prevention as well as support services to anyone facing trauma because of GBV. This applies to students and staff who have reported GBV previously (even prior to joining the PSET sector) or currently.
80 067 students completed a GBV curriculum between January to December 2021 and from there students completed risk profiling on GBV, after which they were referred for GBV-support services, as outlined below.
HIGHER HEALTH’s 24-hour toll-free crisis line (0800 36 36 36) reports that 18 928 students utilised the crisis service from January to December 2021.
HIGHER HEALTH’s data on GBV services includes students who receive the following interventions:
Table 1:
Total number of students who received HIGHER HEALTH support on sexual offences and GBV cases, according to province
Province Year |
Universities |
TVET Colleges |
CET Colleges |
2020-2021 |
2020-2021 |
||
Eastern Cape |
1 113 |
2 401 |
Services commenced in 2022 |
Free State |
956 |
1 091 |
|
Gauteng |
1 115 |
2 834 |
|
KwaZulu Natal |
367 |
2 435 |
|
Limpopo |
113 |
1 950 |
|
Mpumalanga |
185 |
723 |
|
North West |
871 |
615 |
|
Northern Cape |
9 |
569 |
|
Western Cape |
10 660 |
4 424 |
|
Total |
15 389 |
17 042 |
|
Labour Relations Data Involving Staff in TVET and CET Colleges
Table 2:
Total number of students who reported sexual offences and GBV cases against staff, according to province[11]
Province Year |
TVET Colleges |
CET Colleges |
||
2019/20 |
2020/1 |
2021/2 |
||
Eastern Cape |
0 |
0 |
No new cases reported |
No information available |
Free State |
0 |
3 |
||
Gauteng |
1 |
0 |
||
KwaZulu Natal |
0 |
1 |
||
Limpopo |
1 |
1 |
||
Mpumalanga |
0 |
1 |
||
North West |
0 |
0 |
||
Northern Cape |
0 |
0 |
||
Western Cape |
0 |
1 |
||
Total |
3 |
7 |
0 |
|
There are no other data available on students’ cases.
4. Question 1 (b): What are the types of sexual offences that have been reported?
The types of sexual offences and GBV reported are:
5. Question 1 (c): What is the number of incidents that have occurred with and/or involved staff members
The university branch does not collect data on individual staff’s misconduct.
Table 3:
The number of incidents that involved staff members from TVET Colleges (all):
Province Year |
TVET Colleges |
CET Colleges |
||
2019/20 |
2020/1 |
2021/2[13] |
||
Eastern Cape |
0 |
0 |
No new cases reported |
0 |
Free State |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
Gauteng |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
KwaZulu Natal |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Limpopo |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
Mpumalanga |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
North West |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Northern Cape |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Western Cape |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Total |
3 |
7 |
1 |
6. Question 2: Whether there is a dashboard to analyse sexual offence cases. If not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?