A REPLY to Alexis Serra's letter (September 1).
Serra makes serious defamatory allegations about my character.
I want to tell her that I am not afraid to speak truth to power, whoever is in power.
I am a human being and nothing else. She makes a statement that I spew hate speech over a public address system.
Because I address the national land question and other political matters with students, she says I spread hate in the area. The constitution makes provision for putting across one's opinion.
I believe in order to understand education, one needs to understand politics. I will not apologise to any person for this.
Just look at the hair situation at two model C schools. I will not kneel down to those who consider themselves the masters. I am not a lame-duck principal.
I do not run away from consequences of my actions. My actions are always decided on whether it is in the interest of the school.
I am proud to have been associated with South Peninsula High School pupils who have developed a critical outlook on society.
Even the education authorities talk about giving students a critical outlook. But this is for another article.
Alexis Serra stole our traffic cones in front of our school.
She refused to hand them back to me. I said if she behaves like this, I considered her behaviour to be scum. She subsequently returned the cones.
I was found guilty by the Western Cape Education Department for calling two students scum.
Again, I told these students, "Your behaviour I consider scum."
Yes, I find the phrase "behaving like scum" acceptable since persons feel they can act disorderly and expect persons to be nice and condone their actions. Serra then says I call all persons scum. What rubbish!
A small group of apartheid beneficiaries in the area have constantly targeted the school and my person, and use their political influence to get rid of me.
They distribute anonymous letters in the community defaming people who disagree with them.
I must commend those apartheid beneficiaries who have accepted the school and the dispossessed residents, and have created a better society.
This small group of apartheid beneficiaries stand near the fence taking photographs of the school and recording speeches I make.
I have been suspended by the WCED, which I am fighting. And yes, I face dismissal, which I am also fighting.
But I will stand up for my rights. There are no parents, students or teachers at the gate of the school demanding that I leave the school.
Serra should know by now that I can defend myself, but I am grateful that the majority of the residents and SPHS community support the school and my stance on the matters she has raised.
The time for this type of superiority in South Africa is past.
I have never reported any resident who made racists comments to me, or who stole our cones, to the magistrate's court.
I disarm them immediately with the fact that I am a human being. Neville Alexander (one of our leading educationists) has taught us well to defend ourselves.
Serra states as a leader my reputation is built on the past.
The school has consistently performed in all fields of education under my leadership.
I suppose she will say (like some education persons) that a good school can have a bad principal.
By the way, this is debunked by international research on the matter.
If being a bully means standing up for one's rights, then she uses the wrong term.
Let me educate her.
The word she should use instead of "bully" is a teacher activist, debunking the master-slave relationship.
The SPHS community has assessed me as a principal for 32 years. This is all that matters to me.
I do not need her accreditation except that of the SPHS and wider oppressed school communities.
On the surface, Serra comes over as a logical person laying false claims against my person.
But behind this veneer is a vengefulness which comes from the mindset of the apartheid beneficiaries to any person who exposes their intentions.
I have tried to be polite in my reply to Serra. In today's SA , with all its ill-discipline, the person who is harmed is not allowed to use harsh Oxford Dictionary words.
It is only the perpetrator that matters.
● Isaacs is principal of South Peninsula High School, and is currently under suspension