CAPE TOWN - The Hoërskool DF Malan school governing body (SGB) has expressed confidence that they will go ahead with the schools’ name change, a process which has been delayed by a Facebook group.
Members of the Trots DF Malan group launched a formal review application last year in December in hopes to set aside the SGB’s decision to change the school’s name to DF Akademie.
The school’s name originated from Daniël François Malan, former National Party prime minister from 1948 to 1954.
During his term, the foundations for apartheid were laid.
Debates around the name change at the Bellville school have persisted over the years.
The current SGB working with staff, parents, learners and alumni started a process to rethink all aspects of the school’s identity.
However not all parents and alumni supported the idea and the group “Trots DF Malan” was started on Facebook.
According to the SGB’s representative, Johannes Harmse, from Harmse Kriel Attorneys, his client opposed the application.
“In review proceedings, the first step after receipt of the application was for the governing body to file the record of proceedings, which is comprised of all the documents in the governing body’s possession that were relied upon when it made decisions regarding the process that was to be followed in considering the potential change of the school’s name.
“That record was filed on January 28, and copies of all the documents were provided to the applicants.The governing body remains of the view that ‘DF Malan’ is no longer an appropriate name for the school, and that ‘DF Akademie’ better represents the school’s core values,” said Harmse.
He said that they anticipated receiving a supplementary affidavit from the Trots DF Malan members during the course of the week after the ten days they were expected to supplement their founding affidavit expired last Friday.
“It is only after receipt of the supplementary affidavit that all the grounds upon which the applicants intend to rely for the review of the governing body’s decisions will be known,” he said.
Trots DF Malan claims the SGB did not have the power to make any decisions regarding the change of the school’s name and the process it followed upon try to change the name was flawed.
“We respectfully request that the proposed new name for the school not be approved, that a thorough investigation into the conduct of the SGB be done and that the process that was followed by the SGB since June 2020 be set aside,” it had said.
It further requested the Metro North District Education manager to dissolve the SGB.
SGB chairperson Andre Roux said:“ We are confident that we will be successful in the matter and that a court decision in our favour would allow us to proceed with formally changing the name.”
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they will abide by the court’s outcome.
Cape Times