Three schoolboys who distributed an offensive manipulated photo of their vice-principal have been ordered to pay him R45 000 in damages.
Dr Louis Dey, a former vice-principal at the school, claimed damages for the alleged harm to his dignity after Hennie le Roux (18), Christiaan Gildenhuys (19) and Reinhard Janse van Rensburg (19) distributed a manipulated picture of two naked, masturbating men with the faces of Dey and the school’s principal, Dr Christo Becker, pasted on to it.
Pretoria High Court Judge Ben du Plessis ordered the three to pay the damages to Dey and said although the photo was clearly the result of an amateurish manipulation, it had exceeded the bounds of a joke.
It carried the message that the men were engaging in sexual activity and had low moral values. It associated Dey, now the principal of a private school, with such activities.
The judge said it was not in the community’s interest that courts should be burdened unnecessarily with cases about the conduct of schoolchildren.
Their conduct should ideally by addressed in their schools.
He said although the viewer would not conclude that the photo truly depicted Dey’s sexual behaviour, it would at least make one wonder about his sexuality and sexual orientation.
The pupils realised they had violated a societal norm, in that they conceded they would not like to see their parents’ faces on such a manipulated image.
Du Plessis said every individual was entitled to have his or her convictions respected. If Dey did not want to be depicted as homosexual, society demanded that his views be respected. It was clear that the iamge had humiliated and insulted him.
The boy’s parents said they would study the judgement before deciding if they would appeal the judge’s decision.
Dey welcomed the judgement as a victory for the rights of all teachers to be treated with respect.
The Gauteng education department also welcomed the judgement, saying in a statement: ”We have no room for sick jokes that vilify the good standing of our staff as well as the teaching profession.” – Sapa