The education department has announced that it will soon hold a hearing for the stakeholders of DD Siwisa Primary School after it received a complaint about the selection of the school’s principal.
Provincial spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the department has invited all the stakeholders to a grievance hearing which will be held on Monday.
The education department has announced that it will soon hold a hearing for the stakeholders of DD Siwisa Primary School after it received a complaint about the selection of the school’s principal.
Provincial spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the department has invited all the stakeholders to a grievance hearing which will be held on Monday.
"All the affected parties, including the South African Democratic Teachers Union [Sadtu] as the aggrieved party, will be given an opportunity to argue their cases," he added.
The Department of Education had initially planned to re-start the selection process but the committee which is tasked to resolve the crisis at the school recently recommended that the department suspends the process.
Delivering its report at a meeting on 29 September, the committee said: "The crisis committee found that in this particular case the process was concluded at the level of investigation without reaching a hearing."
Grocott’s Mail is in possession of a copy of the report. The committee further recommended that a grievance hearing session be convened within 14 days and that a decision reached during the hearing be implemented within seven days of the hearing.
The committee insisted that only the selection panel’s recommendations and the complainant’s grievance letter should be used as "sources of reference" during the hearing.
The department had ordered the re-start after receiving an objection to the selection process which saw three candidates being recommended in order of preference by the school’s selection panel in June.
The seven-member panel, which administered the selection process, consisted of members of the Student Governing Body (SGB), teachers’ trade unions, school management and departmental officials.
The crisis committee was established after parents marched to the school last month demanding that the preferred candidate be appointed because the acting principal was failing to manage the school in a proper manner.
After investigating the matter the committee recently recommended that the department should not re-advertise the post unless the objection is discussed at a grievance hearing where the affected parties would be "cross-examined".
The committee is made up of SGB members, teachers, teachers’ trade unions, departmental officials and ward 6 councillor Zonwabele Mantla.
The committee revealed that the objection came from Sadtu, a teachers’ union which was present as an observer during the interviews. Despite being party to the selection process, Sadtu submitted the objection three days later.
"Besides this delayed shock, the complainant when doing the presentation does not cite it as being on behalf of any of the candidates interviewed on the day except for citing procedural flaws that prevailed," reads the report.
Attempts to obtain comment from Sadtu drew a blank as local leader Thembile Matiwane did not return calls and messages from Grocott’s Mail.
Last month no lessons took place at the school because picketing parents sent learners home just as school was about to start.
About 40 parents blowing vuvuzelas and waving placards on which were written: "We want that principal!" sang and danced in the school’s driveway.
Four candidates were interviewed by the panel in June and the new principal was supposed to assume official duties at the beginning of the last school term.
However, Mtima maintained that effective learning and teaching is taking place at the school.
