Francesca Villette
DESPITE the SACS High School being instructed by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to allow a suspended pupil back, because it had failed to follow correct procedure, he is still at home.
The Grade 8 pupil and his parents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the school had suspended him on January 19 after rumours that he was at the scene when a physical altercation broke out at the V&A Waterfront three days earlier.
A criminal complaint was lodged but thrown out in court, the mother said.
The pupil said on Monday that without hearing his version of events, SACS principal Ken Ball said he “would knock his head off”.
“I told him, ‘Sir, you must hear my side of the story’, but before I could tell him he said ‘I’ll knock your head off your body, you skollie (gangster)’,” the pupil said on Monday.
Ball had not responded to the allegation by deadline.
School governing body (SGB) chairperson Andrew Breetzke said the school initiated the disciplinary action against the pupil on the grounds of serious misconduct. The pupil, would, however, be allowed to return to SACS until a fair process was followed, Breetzke said.
“We do not believe it is in the best interest of any party to share information as to the serious nature of the offence,” he said.
WCED spokesperson Paddy Attwell said the SGB applied to the department to expel the pupil following a disciplinary hearing and suspended him pending the outcome of the application.
“The department turned down the application because the SGB did not follow the correct procedures during the hearing,” Attwell said. He added that the SGB had indicated it wished to take the matter further.
The pupil’s mother said she was angry at the way things were handled.
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