MBOMBELA – A year after a Cefups Academy learner died from injuries allegedly sustained during receiving corporal punishment, the school is still operating.
Mr Jasper Zwane, spokesman for the Department of Education, says they don’t as yet have a court date for their application to withdraw the school’s registration to be heard.
Allegations of unlawful corporal punishment at the school first surfaced in 2009.
On July 31 last year, Paballo Seane, died after allegedly being beaten with a sjambok.
In August the head of the department (HOD), Ms Mohlasedi Mhlabane, notified the school that she intended to withdraw their registration, stating, “The department can no longer accommodate the continued assault or torture of the learners”.
A task team was appointed to conduct a thorough investigation into the independent school.
The school’s appeal to the MEC for education, Ms Reginah Mhaule was rejected, but Cefups obtained a court order allowing it to remain functional in 2015, pending the adjudication of their application to have the HOD’s decision reviewed by a court.
In December 2014, the judge who granted the order found that Mhlabane had not set out requirements with which the school must comply to prevent the proposed withdrawal of its registration. He found this to be a substantial procedural irregularity.
The leader of the Mpumalanga DA, Mr James Masango, said it was disappointed that the school was allowed to continue functioning because the HOD had not followed the correct procedure, despite the allegations of corporal punishment and the death of a learner.
“The MEC must take action and not allow an oversight by her officials to stand in the way of justice.
“The DA calls on the MEC to launch a campaign throughout the province to educate teachers on the use of corporal punishment, the South African Schools Act, and using non-violent measures to instil discipline. Corporal punishment has no place in South African society,” he said.
But Zwane says the department will continue to oppose the review application.
“It is incorrect to suggest that the department has failed in its bid to institute due processes against the school following the incidences that were reported,” he said.
He added that while the department strives to ensure that justice is served, the circuit manager is closely monitoring developments at the school.
