Work has all but stopped at Vukuzenzele Combined School in Mpumalanga after parents and pupils chased 22 teachers away on Monday.
DUMISANE LUBISI reports
A SCHOOL near Volksrust in Mpumalanga has been paralysed since 22 teachers were chased away by a mob of parents and pupils on Monday, African Eye News Service reports.
On Tuesday the angry parents boycotted a meeting with education MEC Craig Padayachee in Nelspruit. And on Wednesday only five teachers and about 20 pupils turned up for classes at Vukuzenzele Combined School in Siyazenzela township, Perdekop.
Vukuzenzele has 27 teachers, and only five who were not evicted felt safe enough to return. Perdekop police station commissioner Inspector Steven Kubheka said his men were patrolling Vukuzenzele every hour, to ensure no property or school equipment was damaged. “We suspect the 22 teachers did not pitch up for work for fear of their lives,” he said.
The 22 were accused by the mob on Monday of siding with principal Moses Phungwayo, who was removed last year by the school governing body. Removed with Phungwayo was his deputy and a senior teacher, also accused of mismanaging funds, but the education department closed down the school governing body last Thursday.
A departmental inquiry into the allegations of mismanaged funds has not yet been completed, and the three evicted teachers are reporting to the local circuit office.
Education spokesman Peter Maminza said on Wednesday he wanted all pupils and teachers back at school immediately, while the inquiry continued. “We appeal to the teachers and pupils to return, to ensure that there is effective learning and teaching,” he added. — African Eye News Service, January 6, 2000.