Johannesburg - Calm has temporarily been restored to the embattled Roodepoort Primary School, as education officials and opposing political parties attempt to contain violence outbreaks catapulted by alleged racism and corruption.
On Wednesday morning, a large group of disgruntled parents returned to the school west of Joburg.
Unlike Tuesday's heated stand-off between enraged parents and police during which five people sustained injuries after rubber bullets and teargas were fired into the alleged rowdy crowd, it was calm outside the school on Wednesday morning.
Although their grievances were not satisfactory attended to, the community did not prevent the pupils from being ferried in buses to an alternative school.
A large police contingent remained on all sides of the primary school and kept a watchful eye over proceedings from a distance.
The EFF’s provincial leadership were there to pledge their support to the troubled community.
Although they handed out branded T-shirts to residents, they insisted that their visit to the school was not for political reasons.
“We are not here for your votes, our concern is the children that are missing out on school,” EFF Gauteng Central Command Team member Dumisani Ncongwane told the crowd.
The Gauteng Education Department has roped in powerful and highly decorated people, including Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, to serve in a task team to resolve the dispute around the appointment of a principal at the school.
The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and anti-apartheid activist Reverend Frank Chikane have also been approached to try to break the impasse, which led to the department shutting down the school indefinitely.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi announced the formation of the task team at an impromptu media briefing on Tuesday following a fresh outbreak of violence at the school.
At least five people sustained injuries after police fired rubber bullets at some aggrieved parents who had stoned four buses transporting pupils to the alternative Lufhereng Primary School. Five parents were injured.
Lesufi appears to be at his wits’ end trying to resolving the problem. He said the dispute had persisted despite his having had more than 30 meetings with various education role-players in the community in the past 11 months.
“I have done everything that was required from me to try to deal with this matter… but they (the community) have refused all these (investigation) reports simply because the reports did not favour their views,” Lesufi said.
He said he had cleared his diary for six days after what has been described as a racially charged conundrum escalated on Tuesday.
The MEC said the foundation would be helpful as they dealt with race relations. He hoped the issue would be sorted out in the next 48 hours.
He added that he would meet the mediators on Wednesday morning and then host a community meeting in the evening. This, he said, would be the 34th meeting in 11 months that he has had with the community.
“The education of a child comes first and I am not willing to compromise. And I am also not going to allow anarchy to dictate how we run education in this province. If we allow one community to determine who is to be principal, we will never have education in this country,” Lesufi said.
Allegations are that a section of the parents, mostly coloureds, don’t want a black principal. They are demanding that the principal, Nomathemba Molefe, step down. The aggrieved parents have accused Molefe of mismanagement of funds. They also alleged that the education standards at the school have dropped since her appointment.
But an independent forensic audit report by KPMG has cleared Molefe of any misconduct, and instead implicated the school governing body. The report also found that Molefe’s appointment was procedural. Molefe has stepped down three times since she was appointed.
Following Tuesday’s bloody scenes, the department appeared to buckle under pressure from the aggrieved parents. Lesufi said he was in talks with Molefe’s union to see if an interim principal could be appointed and the school reopened.
He added: “I cannot sit here and defend one person who is the cause of the disruptions. I personally met with the teacher union that represents that principal to say ‘you are aware that the education of our children is held to ransom, please allow me to have an interim principal while this situation is being addressed’. The teacher union is open minded about the issue. I am trying other alternative methods to try to sort this out.”
Lesufi denied the department has lost the battle against the community and said they wanted to sort it out as soon as possible.
“We are not losing the battle. The school will be reopened one day. I am not willing to defend individuals. If there are casualties, let there be. I will only protect her rights,” Lesufi said.
He said the department had arranged a catch-up plan and extra lessons for the pupils during the school holidays.
Meanwhile, some teachers who have been reporting to Roodepoort instead of Lufhereng have been given written notices that they would be fired if they didn’t report to Lufhereng within 14 days. Lesufi said before the school was closed on Friday, only 350 out of 1 300 attended classes every day since schools re-opened three weeks ago.