Johannesburg - Hundreds of teachers affiliated to teachers union Sadtu left their pupils in classes on Thursday morning and marched to Hoërskool Overvaal in Vereeniging.
The teachers were there to support the parents of 55 children who were denied places at the predominantly Afrikaans school. They want the school to be shutdown.
The teachers have vowed to turn up in even bigger numbers to force the Afrikaans school to admit English-speaking learners.
#HoerskoolOvervaal Sadtu members march to the School to hand over a memorandum of demands following ongoing protests. @ReporterStar pic.twitter.com/Rxlzl3ZAqM
— Nokuthula Zwane (@Zwane_2Li2Ls) January 25, 2018
ANC Bikers and Sadtu union member George Mollo said: “There are kids that live right next door to this school but you find that they have to get onto a bus an pay over R800 just for transport at other schools, when there is a school right here.”
Khehla Matale Sadtu Sebokeng branch expresses his disappointment of the admission at #HoerskoolOvervaal @ReporterStar pic.twitter.com/o6dBdYI4rM
— Nokuthula Zwane (@Zwane_2Li2Ls) January 25, 2018
The teachers were also to hand over a memorandum to the officials at the school. The memorandum entails demands that the students be expected at Hoërskool Overvaal and that there should be equality in the school.
Khehla Matale, a Sadtu Sebokeng branch member, also called for Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi and the Minister of Education, Angie Motshekga, to shut down the school and disband it's SGB.
SADTU members are demanding that #HoerskoolOvervaalPrincipal and SGB should come out and accept the memorandum and not the district director. @_cosatu @DBE_SA pic.twitter.com/Djtp6SCMny
— SADTU National. (@SadtuNational) January 25, 2018
“We are calling for the MEC and minster of Education to limit the powers of the SGB because they are pushing their own agenda, hiding behind the South African Schools act.
“If this kind of struggle is sustained something is going to give,” Moale said.
School children have now come chanting to #HoerskoolOvervaal @ReporterStar pic.twitter.com/UTlibs1oMO
— Nokuthula Zwane (@Zwane_2Li2Ls) January 25, 2018
One of the teachers for the Vereeniging Amos Nafale told The Star that he was there to support the march against the alleged "racist" school. “This school has to do away with their racism and allow for our black children to attend this school,” he said.
Student body, Congress of South Africa Students (Cosas) also joined the march. Police were on high alert at the school.
Earlier in the morning, DA laid had gone to Vereeniging to lay charges of charges of incitement of violence against social media user, Aubery Thamasanqa Mabele.
Picture: Facebook
In his Facebook post, Mabele called on President Zuma to "give him a gun to defend our democracy", "… one bullet, een Boere kind" while checking in at Hoërskool Overvaal.
The DA in Gauteng has urged MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi to reign in on teachers who allegedly left teaching to protest outside the school.
A horde of members of the South African Teachers Democratic Union (Sadtu) took to the streets demanding for transformation in the education sector.
In a statement, the opposition party said it was unacceptable that teachers had abandoned their posts early in the year as well as interrupting learning.
"Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi must come out of hiding and act against these errant teachers and condemn Sadtu for its reckless and negligent behaviour which has undermined the rights of learners," Shadow MEC for Education Khume Ramulifho said.
Ramulifho added this was not a time for Lesufi to act coy and that he must be "decisive and respond swiftly before this situation spreads to other regions in the province."
The DA said it would approach Lesufi and ask him to ensure that the time lost due to disruptions is recouped.