School Governing Body (SGB) and Parents from Tsimong Primary School, in KwaThema, held a silent march at the school gate on Monday.
The march was prompted by news of a protection order preventing the SGB secretary, Kgotso Hlao, from entering the school.
Parents and SGB took the decision to march when the apologies were announced during a parents’ meeting on Saturday, and it was explained why the secretary was not present.
They gathered at the school on Monday morning, to hand over a petition, calling for the immediate removal of the school’s ‘administrator/acting principal’.
They were accusing him of failing the school by withholding financial reports, terminating contracts of homework tutors and taking decisions about the school without consulting with the SGB.
The SGB and parents also handed over a petition demanding that the principal cancel the court order taken against the SGB secretary. They handed their petition to an employee from the Gauteng East District Department of Education.
Kgotso said the protection order emanates from a fight between him and the principal, which ended with assault cases being opened against both parties.
“The fight took place at my house when he came to collect the computer lab keys,” Kgotso added.
Nthabiseng Khaleli, SGB treasury, said the protection order caught them by surprise, and creates problems ‘because the secretary still has notes from meetings and other useful materials’.
The parents said they want the secretary back because their children are better taken care of by Kgotso.
“He manages the school well, the feeding scheme is impressive, classes stay warm, there is better security at the school,” are some of the reasons parents gave for their support of the secretary.
*The Gauteng Department of Education did not comment at the time of going to print.
