"On behalf of the department, I take this time to applaud the Mogwase Court for passing the three-year sentence to the parent who assaulted a teacher. This will pass a strong message to all those who wanted to assault both our teachers and learners at school," said Matsemela on Monday. 

"This sentence will remind them that schools should be treated as centres of acquiring knowledge, not war zones. Our communities should always know that teachers are parents to the learners at school," she said.

Itumeleng Letsepe, 40, was sentenced to three years in jail for assaulting Grade three teacher Mpuseng Sepotokele, 52, at Leema Primary School in Tlhatlhaganyane near the Sun City resort outside Rustenburg.

The court found that the accused planned the attack on Sepotokele. When the teacher arrived at the school in the morning the accused repeatedly beat her on the head and hands with an umbrella. The teacher was left with wounds.

However, Letsepe was granted leave to appeal her sentence.

In her application to appeal, Letsepe, through her lawyer, said the court did not consider that she was a first-time offender, had pleaded guilty, and was the primary caregiver of two minor children.

She said the court did not say what would happen to the two children she was taking care of while she served her sentence.

Letsepe also argued that another court could come to a different conclusion other than sending her to jail.

Her R2,000 bail was extended until her appeal is heard at the High Court in Mmabatho.

African News Agency (ANA)