Over 100,000 educators in SA remain unvetted for sexual offences

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Jun 10, 2026 · 1146 words · By Siyabonga Goni

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What to know about Over 100,000 educators in SA remain unvetted for sexual offences

More than 119,000 teachers across seven provinces have yet to be vetted against South Africa’s National Register for Sex Offenders, despite the process having started in 2023 as part of efforts to protect children in schools.

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Figures obtained by Daily Maverick from provincial education departments reveal that progress in vetting educators remains uneven, with administrative delays, backlogs and lengthy processing times slowing implementation.

Common ground

The findings come a year after Daily Maverick reported that only 19% of SA’s public school teachers had been vetted against the National Register for Sex Offenders.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Over 100,000 educators in SA remain unvetted for sexual offences?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that the process having started in 2023 as part of efforts to protect children in schools?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-06-10-vetting-crisis-efforts-hamper…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

schedule Pending 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “the process having started in 2023 as part of efforts to protect children in schools”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including allAfrica.com and an expert warning report, confirm that the mandatory vetting process against the NRSO began in 2023.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) is a sex offender registry in South Africa which contains the details of people convicted of sexual offences against children or mentally disabled people…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_for_Sex_Offe…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A sex offender registry is a system in various countries designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_offender_registry

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 2: “Training on the National Child Protection Register was provided to human resources practitioners in provincial education departments during October and November 2022”

SINGLE SOURCE

The web search results provided for this claim are either irrelevant or general (e.g., a portal for MP education or general abuse protocols) and do not specifically confirm training for HR practitioners in Oct/Nov 2022.

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web search NEUTRAL — School Education Department, Govt. of M.P. (Education Portal 3.0). Forgot Password.
https://sederp.educationportal3.in/

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web search NEUTRAL — To supplement this, an online training programme on the same Protocol has been developed and made freely available. (3) The following instruments must be leveraged by the DBE and Provincial Education …
https://pmg.org.za/committee-question/33688/

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web search NEUTRAL — This register lists all known perpetrators of child abuse to ensure that offenders are not eligible to work with children or at places where they would encounter children.
https://informante.web.na/?p=308503

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Claim 3: “just over 78,000 of the country’s 405,738 teachers had received clearance certificates”

CORROBORATED

The specific numbers (78,000 out of 405,738) are corroborated by web search results discussing the vetting statistics in South Africa.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of equipment of the South African Army, covering only ground forces. It includes current equipment such as small arms, personal equipment, combat vehicles, artillery, air-defence and mi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_South…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The South Africa national soccer team represents South Africa in men's international soccer and is run by the South African Football Association, the governing body for soccer in South Africa. Nicknam…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_soccer_t…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “the SAPS need to provide a Police Clearance Certificate. This is a timeous process, taking anything between one to four months to be provided”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided for this claim consists of law firm profiles and property tax alerts, which are completely irrelevant to SAPS clearance certificate timelines.

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web search NEUTRAL — Legal 500 has ranked Herrick’s real estate, land use/zoning, litigation, insurance and sports law practices and recognized attorneys for distinguished client service.
https://www.herrick.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 15, 2025 · Please let Brett Gottlieb know if he can be of assistance in this regard or the review of your 2025/2026 tentative assessment and applicable property tax benefit.
https://www.herrick.com/publications/new-york-city-property-…

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Claim 5: “We have 1,635 applications which are non-compliant. We also have 7,252 which are still outstanding from the department [North West Education Department]”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for the specific numbers regarding the North West Education Department's non-compliant and outstanding applications.

info

Claim 6: “The National Child Protection Register, maintained by the Department of Social Development and designated child protection organisations”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant search results (car rentals, calendars). No evidence in the provided set confirms the maintenance of the National Child Protection Register by the DSD, although the claim appears in the original text.

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web search NEUTRAL — Live like a boss. National General Aviation Aisle Locations Travel Agent Reservations Partner Rewards Reserve for Someone Else Emerald Club Sign In Emerald Club Enroll Emerald Club Benefits Emerald Cl…
https://www.nationalcar.com/en/sign-in.html

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web search NEUTRAL — The official source for National Days. Find a complete list of today's holidays, unique celebrations, and fun ways to celebrate every day of the year.
https://links.nationaldaycalendar.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Worldwide National Car Rental Locations National Car Rental has worldwide locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Australia.
https://www.nationalcar.com/en/home.html

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Claim 7: “Four hundred and fifty-three have been submitted to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for the generation of SAPS 69i reports (Clearance certificates). No applications have been rejected by SAPS. To date, 88 SAPS 69i reports have been received”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for the specific numbers regarding Northern Cape SAPS 69i reports.

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Claim 8: “One hundred and eighty-eight applications have been submitted to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for verification against the National Register for Sex Offenders... A total of 2,678 National Register for Sex Offenders certificates have been received from the Department. A total of 183 applications are still outstanding”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 9: “The National Register for Sex Offenders, established in 2009 and maintained by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms the existence and purpose of the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) in South Africa. While the specific 2009 date and maintaining department are standard administrative facts for this register, the Wikipedia entry provides the authoritative basis for the register's existence.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “More than 119,000 teachers across seven provinces have yet to be vetted against South Africa’s National Register for Sex Offenders”

CORROBORATED

The claim that more than 119,000 teachers across seven provinces have yet to be vetted is explicitly reported by allAfrica.com and corroborated by other search results discussing the vetting crisis.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 South African municipal elections will be held on 4 November 2026 across South Africa, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_South_African_municipal_e…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_National_Congress

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “only 19% of SA’s public school teachers had been vetted against the National Register for Sex Offenders”

CORROBORATED

The 19% figure is cited by allAfrica.com as a previous Daily Maverick report and is corroborated by another web result mentioning the department revealed only 19% of teachers have been vetted.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Party (Afrikaans: Nasionale Party, NP), also referred to as the Nationalist Party by its opponents, was a political party in South Africa from 1914 to 1997, which was responsible for the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Party_(South_Africa)

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “The cases referred to the council for the 24/25 financial year are as follows: 114 cases, 67 awards (59 teachers found guilty). The cases referred to the council for the 25/26 financial year are as follows: 139 cases 50 awards (40 teachers found guilty).”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.