This message was communicated to the Sedibeng Ster by one of the community activists, Ntepe Ntepe. In an exclusive interview with Sedibeng Ster, Ntepe said that as parents they are concerned about the education of their children taking into consideration what has been happening at the school. He said the principal’s, actions and style of running the school are destroying the school, therefore the parents demand that she be removed.
Mavimbela has only been working at the school for only three months. Ntepe described Mavimbela’s leadership style as ‘ruling with an iron fist’ and autocratic, which has led to some of the teachers resigning, whilst some teachers were threatened with dismissals for no apparent reason. Ntepe further said that a meeting was held at the school on Sunday, where the community members, the SGB members and the teachers raised their concerns and were expecting feedback on the issues that had been raised about the principal. They apparently left
unhappy with the outcome because they believe that the District Director is protecting the principal. There are apparently different
camps amongst the staff members and the SGB, with several supporting the principal and several standing against her. As if this is not enough, Ntepe said that the manner which the principal was appointed is suspicious, as the right protocol was allegedly not followed.
He continues to state that the biggest problem is the fact that no one knows how the principal was appointed as there had never been an advertisement for the position.
“We don’t approve the appointment of the principal because it is clear that the right channels were not followed and, as parents, we want her out with immediate effect. “Our children’s futures are at stake here!
“The teachers are not happy with the manner in which the principal runs the school, so how then, can our children pass in this kind of environment? A number of parents have already taken their children out of the school because of this situation,” said Ntepe. He adds that police were called to the school recently, after rumours that the principal was held hostage by the community members while there was no such action. Ntepe said that they suspect there is political influence involved in the matter as ANC members were seen at the meeting on Sunday wearing their party regalia apparently in support of Mavimbela.
Mavimbela referred Sedibeng Ster to the Sedibeng East District of Education, however Sedibeng Ster could not get comment at the time of going to print.