Angry teacher filmed slapping female student for using mobile phone inside classroom

Investigations have been launched after a female teacher was filmed slapping a student across the face at an all-girls school in South Africa over an argument over the use of a mobile phone in class.

Both police and local education authorities have launched investigations over the incident that reportedly occurred on Tuesday, according to the Daily Mail.

The video shows the 33-year-old teacher, who has not been identified, becoming enraged with the teenager who had turned up in class at Sans Souci Girls' High School in Cape Town without the correct textbook. When the teen starts using her phone, the teacher is seen confiscating it and the to and fro that follows ends with the teacher slapping the student.

The footage, which went viral, shows the angry teacher standing in front of the girl's desk, saying: "This is a disciplinary hearing now. Your phone shouldn't be in your hand. You wanna challenge me, my dear? You're gonna get last. I've been where you've been. Yes. I have three degrees - two, working on my third one. You don't even have a book in Year 9."

She then holds up the student's phone, saying: "This thing I shouldn't see. Code of conduct, you know what it says about phones. Why do you disobey that? Why don't you have a book?"

The student in turn accuses the teacher of breaking the code of conduct and swearing at her, to which the teacher replies, "When did I swear? What did I say to you? Tell me."

The girl responds: "Don't shout at me." The student is then told to get out of the class and the teen murmurs something.

"So, you're swearing at me?" the teacher says, to which the girl snaps saying: "I'm swearing at you."

The teacher then scold the teen for "speaking a different language in my class" and gives her phone back ordering her to leave.

The girl, however, refuses to leave and continues using her phone, at which point the teacher snatches the phone back, saying: "You shall not have this. This is against the code."

The girl then pushes the table back and tries to get her phone back, after which the teacher is seen losing control and hitting the student with an echoing slap, drawing gasps from other children sitting in the room. 

Police officials confirmed the incident on Wednesday saying that both the teacher and the student have filed assault complaints against each other and no arrests have been made so far.

Reports state that the local education department has launched its own investigation into the case to decide whether to retain the teacher or let her go. The report of the probe is expected to be out this week, according to the South African Times.

The teenager's mother, while appearing on Eyewitness News, said: "I feel frustrated as a mother, everyone would. I'm saddened and disappointed. All I can say is there are processes in place and the school is currently running an investigation, and there's also a legal one ongoing. She can't be a drop-out. I pay thousands a year for her to come to school, so she must come to school."

Western Cape Education Minister Debbie Schäfer also issued a statement saying that corporal punishment in schools was "unacceptable" under all circumstances.

"I am aware that some commentators on social media platforms are immediately assuming that the incident is race related. While I understand their anger at the images displayed on the edited version of the video, we cannot assume that this was racially motivated. We ask that the public allow the school governing body to investigate the incident before such conclusions are made," the minister said.

While pupils of the school staged a protest in support of the teacher, who is white, and refuted local media reports that said the incident was racially motivated, the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters came out in support of the student, saying the "San Souci girl’s high school has history of rampant racism that must be dealt with decisively."

The @EFFSouthAfrica in the western cape is working closely with parents of the young girl who was smacked by her teacher for speaking and expressing herself in her home language, #Xhosa. San Souci girl’s high school has history of rampant racism that must be dealt with decisively pic.twitter.com/fc6W4gj1Oy

— #RegisterToVoteEFF (@FaneMafia) February 6, 2019

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