Can a coach use punishment exercises or physical punishment at school sport?

No. Section 10 of the South African Schools Act (as amended by the BELA Act, in force from 24 December 2024) abolishes corporal punishment: no person may inflict it on a learner at a school, during a school activity, or in a school hostel. That covers teachers, outside coaches, parents and other volunteers.

The Act's definition of corporal punishment is wide. It includes any deliberate act that causes pain or physical discomfort, however light, to punish or contain a child, such as:

• hitting, smacking, slapping, pinching, kicking, shaking, pushing or throwing objects at a learner;
• forcing a learner to stay in an uncomfortable position;
• forcing a learner to do exercises that are not in line with the curriculum (for example, push-ups or laps as punishment);
• denying meals or restricting use of the toilet;
• acts meant to belittle, humiliate, threaten, frighten or ridicule a learner.

Penalty: it is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine, imprisonment or both, as the court decides.