Parents of learners who attend Joseph Shabalala  Secondary School are engaged in ongoing protest action against the principal.

They have demanded that she not return until problems with the school’s finances are resolved.

The parents had a heated meeting last Monday (October 14) with the teachers as well as the principal of the school, Mrs J Mbhele.

It is alleged that this came after the parents received a report from the School Governing Body (SGB), stating that the school was facing challenges because of the principal. According to the parents, these challenges started in March 2023 because there was no proper handover to the incoming principal.

Another issue that was brought under the spotlight was the financial status of the school.

The parents claim that the school fees are being paid, yet it appears that the school has gone bankrupt to the point where they are not paying uThukela for water – it is alleged that the school owes R92,000. Other issues include: school cleaners have not been paid, money for teachers was stopped for extra classes, the school could not pay for electricity, and the school could not buy textbooks for the learners.

Principal Mbhele was present at the meeting and confirmed some of the issues at hand. She said that some things that are happening internally have caused a delay in the issues being sorted out, but they are not being ignored. After a long back-and-forth, it appeared that the parents were not happy with Mbhele’s responses to some of the questions they posed.

The meeting ended with the parents requesting the principal to take ‘special leave’ and go home until further notice. According to the parents, they no longer want her services at the school.

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