Parents of pupils at a Langa primary school are calling for its immediate closure unless the principal and his secretary step down.
On Friday April 21, the angry parents disrupted classes as they picketed outside the premises, accusing the principal of corruption and being rude and abusive to the staff. They claim that he does not want the school to have a governing body.
Carrying placards and chanting struggle songs, the parents said they had tried in vain to talk to the principal.
Parent Khanyisiwe Sibindi said the school was not the same since the arrival of the principal 2014. “We are protesting for the future of our children. This man rules with an iron fist. We have noticed that things are getting out of hand. This is our school. We cannot fold our arms when he is ruining our school.
“He is a dictator who does not take anybody’s word. He is abusive to his teachers,” she said.
She also claimed there was an issue with falsified contracts which had been issued to teachers. “He victimises those who fail to sign them,” she told Vukani.
Another parent, Thandeka Nokuna, said the principal did not share the same views with parents, making it difficult to work with him. Pretty Kutta, also a parent, said they would be at the school on every day basis for as long as the principal was not removed. She pleaded with other parents to be part of the protest. “We have a computer laboratory that is not used at all,” she said.
Western Cape Education Department spokeswoman Millicent Merton said the department was aware of problems at the school, but did not know about the protest.
“We were not aware of the protest and will request our district office to investigate,” she said. She did not, however, indicate when the district would intervene.
