A Survey of Principals' Knowledge of the New Legal Definition of Corporal Punishment in the BELA Act 32 of 2024: A Case of Johannesburg Central District, Gauteng
Published:
2026-11-04Downloads
Abstract
The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act 32 of 2025 provides for the new legal definition of corporal punishment in [deleted for anonymity]. When analysed disjunctively, the provision classifies 29 acts as corporal punishment. There is presently no empirical evidence regarding principals’ knowledge of these 29 acts. The objective of the study was to determine the knowledge of principals of these 29 statutory acts. It attempted to answer the question: “what is the knowledge of the 29 statutory acts provided for in BELA Act amongst the schools’ principals?”. Twenty five principals were surveyed using a 5-Likert scale questionnaire in [deleted for anonymity]. On average, principals correctly identified 84% of the 29 statutory acts as constituting corporal punishment. Only a few (8%) did not recognise the described conduct as corporal punishment, and a further 8% were uncertain. The acts most widely recognised, each identified by 96% of principals, were ‘burning or scalding a learner’, ‘biting a learner’, ‘pulling a learner’s hair’, and ‘washing a learner’s mouth out with soap’. However, there is a need to further empower principals on ‘making learners stay in uncomfortable positions”, ‘smacking’, ‘kicking’, ‘hitting’, ‘scratching the learner with a hand or object’, ‘pulling children’, ‘denying toilet’, and ‘inducing fear’. A further research study is needed to assess the implementation and impact of this provision in improving discipline in schools.
Keywords:
Corporal Punishment Legal Definition Principals Knowledge Legal Consciousness TheoryReferences
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