A principal accused of raping and sexually abusing pupils has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which he labelled a “vendetta”.
|||Durban - The South Coast principal accused of raping and sexually abusing pupils has pleaded not guilty to all charges, which he labelled a “vendetta” to have him fired.
Desmond Peter Makhanya, 44, was accused of raping a pupil in February, 2010, on the school premises. She was 16 at the time and he is alleged to have raped her more than once.
Another of the girls who have accused him of sexual assault testified in camera before magistrate V Dube in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Makhanya, who has been suspended by the Education Department pending the outcome of the trial, was arrested at the Njabulo Senior Secondary in eMkhomazi in November after a group of girls approached police officers who were visiting their school on an outreach programme.
According to court papers, the 16-year-old girl alleged Makhanya “forcefully” kissed her at school on October 11, 2011, and later molested her. The girl said he raped her on more than one occasion.
Makhanya has denied all the charges. “The complaints against me are part of a vendetta to have me dismissed as an educator and accordingly disqualify me from being principal,” Makhanya said, adding that that the complaints by the girls were part of an “ongoing campaign against him since or about 2007.”
The Mercury