In 2019, the South African Council of Educators (SACE) recorded 122 cases of sexual abuse of pupils by teachers – noting that two out of three cases go unreported. School Ties, a ground-breaking and harrowing four-part documentary series about the grooming and sexual abuse of learners at some of South Africa’s most prominent, prestigious boys’ schools, comes to M-Net Channel 102 on May 16 at 9pm. While virtually all schools in the country will grapple with sexual misconduct at some point, abuse that happens in the most prestigious schools tends to be well hidden and therefore has perpetrators who get away with it for many years – leaving many harmed children in their wake.
Produced by Devilsdop, Steinheist and Convict Conman producers Idea Candy, the docuseries series uncovers the truth behind grooming and abuse in schools across the country, the aftermath and what government, schools and society are doing to stop abuse in its tracks. The four episodes tackle one case at a time: the suicide of 16-year-old Thomas Kruger after an allegedly inappropriate relationship with the school’s charismatic water polo coach, another water polo coach caught on surveillance camera abusing boys in his care, at a school where the silence was maintained for too long. The series also explores Julio Mordoh’s suicide a decade after allegedly experiencing abuse by his own school sports coach and the discovery of a previously convicted water polo coach who was located working with children at a holiday camp in the UK.
