The SA Council for Educators says it's horrified by a video of a teacher attacking a pupil with a stick, which went viral on social media.
"Absolutely disgusting, this is assault and not corporal punishment".SACE, Thembinkosi Ndlovu
"It is absolutely disgusting, this is assault and not corporal punishment. It is sheer assault. Can you imagine if it was your child getting beaten by a teacher?" the body's Thembinkosi Ndlovu told HuffPost on Tuesday.
"It is just unacceptable and annoying what we see in the video".
On Monday afternoon, a video circulating on social media showed a teacher viciously assaulting a pupil in the classroom.
The department of education in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) said that it would issue a statement today (Tuesday) regarding the situation of assault at schools.
"Those learners are the ones that are supposed to come and open a case" Colonel Zwane, Police of KZN
The police in KZN confirmed that no case had been open to date, as charges still had to be laid.
"Those learners are the ones that are supposed to come and open a case. We are waiting on to see if they will come forward," said Colonel Thulani Zwane, provincial police spokesperson.
Zwane said that formal procedures had to be followed for someone to be arrested.
A teacher from Mdlamse High School is expected to be served with a suspension on Tuesday following the incident.
The SACE is seeking an urgent amendment to specific legislation so that it can have the power to publicly name and shame educators found guilty of offences, including rape and sexual misconduct.
"Hopefully once people are exposed, it will help us and it will help society. We want them to be exposed. We believe that would be a deterrent to others who would want to do the same thing."
According to EWN, the provincial education department's Elijah Mhlanga said teachers were expected to protect and guide not to prey on young girls, following a separate incident involving a student who was allegedly gang-raped by educators, including a principal.
The department said it had already alerted the police and expected arrests to be made "soon".
Here's what people had to say on social media: