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EDUCATION
Heathfield saga drags on RACINE EDWARDES RACINE.EDWARDES@MEDIA24.COM @RAEEDWARDES
T
he much-publicised saga between Heathfield High School principal Wesley Neumann and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is expected to will continue in the Labour Court today, Tuesday 24 November. Allan Liebenberg, media officer of the Executive Action Group (EAC) and supporter of the principal, says while the WCED is still actively pursuing the six charges brought against Neumann, the community supports his decisions and stands behind him. On Tuesday 6 October, People’s Post reported on the WCED charging Neumann on six counts (“WCED makes a U-turn”). At the time, the department stated it would not be able to comment on the matter in the media as the case was “sub judice”. On the same day, the WCED rubbished claims made by the school’s governing body (SGB) treasurer Brandon De Kock earlier that week regarding a court interdict on behalf of the school’s principal. According to a mail sent by the SGB, the Labour Court had “granted Heathfield High School principal Mr Wesley Neumann an urgent court interdict to stop the WCED’s disciplinary hearing against him” and the department would not oppose the interdict. The WCED said this was false. According to the department’s spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, the hearing was rather postponed to later that month on Wednesday 28 October, after Neumann filed his urgent application to “interdict his disciplinary proceeding for an indefinite period” on Monday 5 October. The interdict was, therefore, not granted and the postponement gave the WCED time to prepare for this internal hearing. On Wednesday 28 October, learners, residents of Heathfield and other interested parties descended on the Heathfield High School hall to watch the outcome of the hearing. After a late start, it was ruled that judgment would be reserved to a later date. On Monday 2 November, it was reported by the WCED that the decision was taken by the Labour Court to dismiss Neumann’s attempt to halt his imminent disciplinary proceedings by
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Learners, residents of Heathfield and other interested parties at Heathfield High School hall watch the outcome of the hearing on Wednesday 28 October. PHOTO: RACINE EDWARDES way of an interdict, by striking it off the roll with costs in favour of the department. Now, with the case continuing in court today, Liebenberg says: “At the moment, the disciplinary process will proceed and (we’ve been) preparing for that. Our position is still clear, that there is a lot of evidence that the prime driver is HOD (head of education department, Brian Schreuder). I think he took the contents of a letter Wesley wrote to him very personally.” The WCED responds that the charges were, in fact, made by Salie Faker, director of employer relations. The department was informed by various interested parties, including parents, that Grade 12 learners had not attended school for some time, after schools had reopened as decided by the government, according to a WCED statement. Hammond explains, during the short break in July, Schreuder wrote a letter to Neumann, explaining that making a success
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of the children’s school careers is of utmost importance and reminded him that the Grade 12s had lost valuable teaching time as a result of the lockdown. For that reason, matric preparation became high priority. The statement mentions that Neumann was thus instructed to ensure that every “Grade 12 learner and parents/guardians are informed, in writing, of the requirement that every Grade 12 learner must physically be at school every day of the week, from Monday 3 August, until the start of their final NSC examinations”. Neumann was also advised that directives had been received from the director-general of the Department of Basic Education, which urged the provincial government to implement disciplinary procedures where educators refused to report for duty. Neumann allegedly failed to comply with the deadline to inform parents of such. “Instead he responded by addressing a hostile
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and defamatory letter to the HOD, which he elected to copy to ‘all media houses’,” the statement reads. It was after this incident and additional correspondence that WCED informed Neumann of charges that were being brought against him, including that of failing to carry out a lawful instruction of the employer and committing misconduct by allegedly encouraging personnel to not report for duty. According to Liebenberg, a former principal at Crestway High School, the role of a principal at a township school requires difficult decisions to be made (“Schools unite in Covid-19 battle”, People’s Post, 7 July). “As a past principal of a township school, I know it’s difficult. So I applaud him for his work. The system makes it difficult for principals to do what’s right for the children and adhere to regulations,” Liebenberg says. V People’s Post will have an update on the story next week.
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