THE government has ordered an investigation after claims in a new documentary that 106 of the 366 pupils at a Bulawayo primary school had been sexually abused.
At least 15 of the children have tested positive for HIV, film-maker Thandazani Nkomo said.
Nkomo began making the documentary after he was “touched” by the plight of the children. He hoped the film would “prompt authorities into action”, he told The Standard.
It appeared to have achieved just that as Education Minister David Coltart ordered a probe which will focus on Lockview Primary School in Matshemhlope.
Most of the pupils at the school live on peri-urban plots allocated to victims of a 2005 urban slum clear-out known locally as Operation Murambatsvina.
Most of the children come from families which share a single room, Nkomo said.
Coltart said: “I have heard about child abuse at that school and discussed the matter with the MP [Thabitha Khumalo]. I have also instructed the Permanent Secretary to investigate.
“What complicates the matter is the fact that this abuse is taking place at their homes and not at the environs of the school.
“Nonetheless, investigations are ongoing and once complete we would have to examine how to proceed with the matter in terms of social welfare and taking the issue to the police.”
Khumalo [MDC-T, Bulawayo East] said: “There is a lot of poverty in the area and the documentary has left the community searching for answers.
“There are a lot of child-headed families, children staying with relatives and most of these children have confirmed that they were sexually abused at one point or another.
“Some of the children do not report the cases of sexual abuse because they are being abused by people who provide them with accommodation, food and send them to school.”
And a teacher told The Standard: “We cannot test some of the children for HIV but most of them have tell-tale signs of the disease. The level of abuse is shocking, but it’s difficult to prosecute the abusers because they are the people that these children turn to for shelter and food.”
Locals say 10 men were jailed for rape and other sexual offences in the school’s surrounding community in the last couple of years after some of the children braved threats and reported the abuse to the police.