Teacher fired for hitting pupil with duster gets her job back
The Education Labour Relations Council found that the Eastern Cape education department was too harsh when it dismissed Alindiwe Nyawuza. Commissioner Sally-Jean Pabst ordered Nyawuza reinstated without back pay, after finding she committed misconduct.
Nyawuza taught at Ithembelihle Technical High School in Gqeberha. On May 15 2025, she punished a group of learners for coming late by hitting their fingertips with a chalkboard duster. She had been a teacher for two years at the time.
Pabst found that the department failed to prove Nyawuza intended to cause serious bodily harm. She said the department's internal investigation was poorly handled, because the investigator did not interview eyewitnesses or the learner's parents. She also said progressive discipline was more appropriate than dismissal.
Pabst said corporal punishment is commonplace at the school. She stressed that the ruling does not make it acceptable, and said "learners have a constitutional right to be protected from abuse".
Nyawuza said she is remorseful and would never again use corporal punishment.
Key facts
- Who
- Alindiwe Nyawuza (Teacher at Ithembelihle Technical High School, dismissed and now reinstated); Sally-Jean Pabst (ELRC commissioner who ruled on the appeal); Eastern Cape department of education (Employer that fired Nyawuza); Education Labour Relations Council (Forum where Nyawuza appealed her dismissal)
- What
- Eastern Cape teacher Alindiwe Nyawuza, fired for striking a pupil's fingertip with a chalkboard duster, has been reinstated after the Education Labour Relations Council found the dismissal too harsh. The commissioner found she committed misconduct but that intent to cause serious bodily harm was not proven, and ordered no back pay.
- When
- 20 October 2026
- Where
- Gqeberha, Eastern Cape
- Status
- Reported