SGB holds education dept manager hostage at school

A dramatic hostage drama unfolded at a Mpumalanga primary school on Monday after parents locked a circuit manager in the staff room demanding fencing and a guard house for their school. According to the school governing body (SGB) there was supposed to be a meeting between theSGB, circuit manager and director for infrastructure from the department of education at Duma Primary School in Pienaar, Mpumalanga. However, it all turned bad when only the circuit managershowedup.

Teaching and learning came to a standstill as some pupils left and some were seen playing outside while the SGB locked the doors with the manager inside. Police arrived in two cars but allegedly only stood outside and occasionally peeped through the window to communicate with those inside. SGB chairperson Later Tibane said they had been demanding for about 14 years that the department install the fence and guard house but nothing was done.

At one stage they had to stop children coming to school for their own safety. “But after writing to the department for years — at least 10 years now — there has been no response. So the parents saw it as disrespect from the director of infrastructure not to come and address them, and that is why we had to politely ask the circuit manager to not leave until our demands are met,” said Tibane.

[paywall]

He said they had held the manager in the staff room from 9am until the afternoon when the HOD of the department allegedly sent a commitment letter stating that they would erect the fence in April when the financial year starts. Sizwe Shongwe, a community member, said they were tired of lies, so they decided to encourage the SGB to not let the circuit manager go. “We love what the SGB did.

We waited in anticipation to see if the police were going to arrest anyone. We were actually going to stop them from arresting the SGB,” said Shongwe. Spokesperson for the department of education Jasper Zwane said the department was aware of the school’s plight and would “feature their demands in the upcoming 2026 financial year”, which starts in April. “This has been communicated to the school through the circuit office, which serves as the immediate line of authority.”

[/paywall]