LEARNING at one of the best-performing schools in the Amanzimtoti Circuit has remained disrupted for weeks as some parents have accused several male teachers at Umgababa’s Mnganiwakhe Secondary School of having sexual relations with some female learners.

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A meeting was held at the school on February 25 to try to resolve issues, but no solution was found because the principal, Nompumelelo Mkhize, and the head of the school’s governing body (SGB), Lungani Makhathini, were both absent. Further worsening the situation, learners have embarked on a strike in support of a teacher who has been suspended for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a learner.

A parent that the SUN spoke with said learners claim that the suspended teacher is innocent and is being made a scapegoat while the real perpetrators still remain. The parent, who will not be named to protect her child, said she is concerned that the disruption of learning could have a negative impact on the learners during the examinations.

“Several teachers have been named in this criminal behaviour, but the one teacher who was against it and was vocal about what others were doing was set up and suspended based only on circumstantial evidence. There’s no proof that he did it,” said the parent.

At the meeting, parents questioned why the principal and the chairperson of the SGB were absent, but it was revealed that the principal was fearing for her life, and the SGB’s chairperson had gone into hiding after he survived an attempted murder when his car was shot at a few days earlier. It is not known whether the shooting is related to what is happening at the school. Trying to address the parents, the SGB’s deputy chairperson, Sqongqwane Msomi, was heckled, and chaos ensued. The meeting ended after a group of learners made their way in, demanding that the suspended teacher be reinstated.

The Department of Education’s spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi, said the department is going to investigate the matter.

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