Non-Profit Organisations Act, 1997
R 385
South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act No. 84 of 1996)Chapter 2 : Learners10A. Prohibition of initiation practices |
| 1) | A person may not conduct or participate in any initiation practices against a learner at a school or in a hostel accommodating learners of a school. |
| 2) |
| a) | Any person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of misconduct and disciplinary action must be instituted against such a person in accordance with the applicable code of conduct, prescribed in sections 8 and 18A of this Act and Schedule 2 to the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act No. 76 of 1998); |
| b) | In addition to paragraph (a), a learner may institute civil action against a person or a group who manipulated and forced that learner to conduct or participate in any initiation practices. |
| 3) | For the purposes of this Act, "initiation practices" means any act which in the process of initiation, admission into, or affiliation with, or as condition for continued membership of, a school, a group, intramural or extramural activities, interschool sports team, or organisation – |
| a) | endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a person; |
| b) | undermines the intrinsic worth of human beings by treating, some as inferior to others; |
| c) | subjects individuals to humiliating or violent acts which undermine the constitutional guarantee to dignity in the Bill of Rights; |
| d) | undermines the fundamental rights and values that underpin the Constitution; |
| e) | impedes the development of a true democratic culture that entitles an individual to be treated as worthy of respect and concern; or |
| f) | destroys public or private property. |
| 4) | In considering whether the conduct or participation of a person in any initiation practices falls within the definition of subsection (3), the relevant disciplinary authority referred to in subsection (2)(a) must take into account the right of the learner not to be subjected to such practices. |
