Durban – The principal and two teachers at a south Durban school are under investigation by the Department of Education for consuming alcohol during a school excursion last week.
Police were called in to escort the two male teachers from the school premises on Wednesday after furious parents arrived at the front gate protesting and calling for their suspension.
The principal and the teachers have since been told by education officials to stay at home until the matter was resolved.
The Daily News is not naming the school because of the seriousness of the allegations involving minors.
The Grade 7 pupils, accompanied by eight teachers, travelled in two buses on an excursion to Howick and the Natal Zoological Gardens last Thursday.
A concerned parent, whose daughter was on one of the buses, said the male teachers began “acting weird” on the trip back to Durban.
The parent said one bus transported the boys with five female teachers, three of them student teachers.
The other bus transported the girls and a dozen boys, accompanied by the principal and two male teachers.
In a letter to the school, parents said the female teachers should have accompanied the girls.
They alleged that a male teacher pinched a boy’s thighs, harassed the girls and hit a girl on her head with an ice pack.
The parents called for all the teachers who went on the trip, to be suspended.
On Friday, the uMlazi police family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit was called out after parents became agitated. Police interviewed parents and pupils. However, no case has been opened.
Bobbi Bear, an NGO that collaborates with, and assists the criminal justice system, to ensure the rights and safety of the child victim of sexual abuse, was also present.
Muzi Mahlambi, provincial education spokesperson, said the department was investigating the allegation that the teachers indulged in heavy drinking during the excursion.
Speaking about the commotion at the school on Wednesday, he said: “The teachers feared for their lives and were escorted out of the school by the police. The department’s district office intervened and the school is functioning as normal.”
The ward councillor said when he arrived at the school on Wednesday it was tense. He confirmed that the teachers had been told to take leave until the department’s investigation was completed.
He said nine pupils had come forward.
The school governing body chairperson had posted a message from the circuit manager, Petros Mdabe, on the school’s Facebook page: “The school will be open and all assessments and other activities will continue as normal on Wednesday.
“A circular to this effect will be issued.
“The circuit manager has made his e-mail available for concerned parents.
“This matter is sub judice, which means that it is under investigation and that the legal process will follow.
“The safety of our (pupils) is our priority, therefore we advise caution when dealing with sensitive issues.”