SECTION27, representing the Teddy Bear Foundation (TBF), will be in Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, 27 July, to ensure that the National Child Protection Register (NCPR) is implemented and maintained effectively. SECTION27 approached the court to ensure that people found guilty of sexual misconduct, or otherwise found unsuitable to work with children, are reported without delay, entered onto the NCPR, and prevented from working in child-contact roles.
The application is brought against the Departments of Social Development (DSD), Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD), Basic Education (DBE), provincial education departments (PEDs), and the South African Police Service (SAPS). The application seeks compliance with their legislative obligations as mandated under the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. The Children’s Act regulates the NCPR. In terms of the Act, the DSD is the custodian of the NCPR. It has an obligation to ensure that the NCPR is maintained and that there are no backlogs in updating it. The DBE and PEDs have to vet their employees against the NCPR and to report to DSD all employees found guilty of misconduct that would make them unsuitable to work with children. The DOJ&CD must ensure that all courts, through their registrars, report names of persons found unsuitable to work with children to the DSD to include on the NCPR.
SECTION27 also seeks relief against the South African Council of Educators (SACE) and the Educators Labour Relations Council (ELRC), statutory bodies are responsible for the enrolments and disciplinary processes against educators.
DSD are the only respondents that oppose this application and argue that they have fulfilled their obligation to ensure that backlogs are remedied and that they maintain the NCPR as they receive reports from the other respondents. The DBE and PEDs have proposed a settlement, which will be finalised on the day of the hearing.
The application stemmed from a matter involving the rape of a learner by a caretaker at a school in North-West. The North-West Department of Education failed to place the caretaker on the NCPR despite him being found guilty and dismissed. The employer was eventually placed on the NCPR after years of pursuit by SECTION27. These administrative failures leave learners exposed to violence and sexual violence every day, while perpetrators are kept in schools. This case highlighted the broader failure: poor reporting, coordination, vetting, and uncertainty about whether names are actually being captured and then used by those responsible for employment in schools. SECTION27 has found that the NCPR is severely underutilised. In March 2025, only 49 000 educators, which is 12% of all educators, had been vetted against the NCPR.
The NCPR protects children and ensures that abuse, neglect, and those found unsuitable to work with children are recorded in a database.
Our application focuses on the failures of government departments to protect children from unsuitable individuals. We seek relief to address statutory failures undermining children’s rights to basic education, dignity and safety. SECTION27 calls for a structural order and for the court to have a monitoring role, to ensure compliance. It has been approximately 15 years since the NCPR came into effect and the respondents continue to fail in implementing and complying with their obligations.
For media enquiries contact:
Pearl Nicodemus | nicodemus@section27.org.za | 082 298 2636
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