Durban - A hostage drama unfolded at a Botha’s Hill school on Wednesday, apparently after seven teachers – whose suspensions for alleged misconduct were lifted – were told to return to class.
On the first day back at school, parents locked the Molweni ward schools inspector, Mduduzi Makhanya, inside the premises at Thabela High, and demanded to see KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Peggy Nkonyeni and her senior managers. Molweni falls under the Pinetown education district.
Eight hours after arriving at the school, Makhanya was still being held hostage.
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education head Dr Nkosinathi Sishi wanted to call the police, but Makhanya advised against it.
“He said he wanted to negotiate a workable solution with the parents,” Sishi said.
“He said he could handle the matter and we are confident he is capable of doing so.”
No teaching took place at the school. Some pupils spent the time sitting in the classrooms while others stood idly around the school.
The bone of contention, according to parents, was the department’s decision to call back seven teachers who had been suspended, pending an investigation into allegations of misconduct and ill discipline against them.
The teachers were accused of engaging in sexual relations with pupils and of supplying them with drugs. They were cleared of all the allegations during internal hearings and in the labour court and their suspensions were lifted. The teachers were instructed to report for duty on Monday, but had not done so.
When the Daily News visited the school on Wednesday, parents were furious that the learning process had been delayed.
One parent, Hombakazi Ndwandwe, said it was unacceptable that a day was wasted with the department supporting teachers they did not want at the school.
“The teachers that are forced down our throats have not been to work for three days. Instead, substitute teachers, who were here last year, were told not to continue with their duties.
“We have problematic teachers in 20 schools in Kwanyuswa,” he said.
“When the issues at this school were reported to the department, they promised to investigate, only to reinstate the same teachers without informing the SGB (school governing body) of the outcomes of the investigation,” Ndwandwe said
Another parent and member of a task team appointed by the department in 2010, said the department was either confused or “bullied” by the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu).
Gledwin Mposula, speaking on behalf of the team, said their task was to look into issues raised by the SGB and report them to the department for corrective measures. The task team is made up of three SGB members from 20 local schools.
“That never happened as there has been no positive outcome from the reported cases. Instead, we see accused teachers being allowed to return to work. We are not told about the outcomes of the investigations,” he said.
Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza said the union was not co-managing the department, but like any other union, they ensured that their members received fair treatment.
Sishi said his department took all matters raised by the SGBs and communities seriously.
“By today the matter must be resolved, and if not, I’ll have to take a decision. It can’t escalate beyond this because children must be taught.”
Daily News