‘SINISTER PLAN’ FOR SCHOOL
SCHOOLING at Xhunkwesa Combined School in Platfontein came to a halt this week, with community members preventing a teacher, who they claim is a “gang member” with a “sinister plan”, from entering the premises.
On Monday pupils were sent home shortly after the start of the school day, after community members descended on the school to prevent a female teacher from entering the premises. They are accusing the teacher of being “in cahoots” with the school governing body (SGB), whom the community refer to as “dangerous gang”.
By yesterday schooling had still not resumed, with the school’s 1 200 pupils roaming the streets during school hours.
Community members gathered close to the school yesterday, awaiting a delegation of representatives that had travelled to Kimberley to meet with the Northern Cape Department of Education to discuss the issues that led to the closure of the school.
“We don’t want that teacher here. She is not from our community and has come with a political agenda, when she should be teaching our children,” the community members said.
“She is in cahoots with the SGB members, who were chosen among themselves and not by the community. They are nothing more than a dangerous gang.”
Citing further reasons why they wanted to get rid of the teacher (and the SGB members), the community said that the “gang” had a sinister, hidden agenda for Platfontein.
“They want to get rid of the current principal and replace him with the teacher. They then want the teacher to order that Xhunkwesa Combined School be demolished Danie van der Lith
and the children be bused to other areas for schooling. What they eventually want to achieve is to start mining for diamonds on the school premises.”
They added that this scenario would be “absolutely devastating” for the survival of the !Xun and the Khwe culture, as their children would be forced to speak languages other than their mother tongue.
“The SGB members (and the teacher) are a dangerous, militant gang that should be stopped before they start doing serious damage to our community and our school, which is a beacon of hope to numerous young people in Platfontein.”
The SGB members had previously accused the principal of financial mismanagement after he apparently refused members access to the school’s chequebook and was yet to “hand over power” to the newly-elected SGB.
“The principal is yet to acknowledge us as members of the new SGB and he is refusing us access to the school’s chequebook, leaving us with questions about suspected mismanagement of funds that he is trying to keep away from us,” a SGB member previously told the DFA.
“This is aggravated by rumours that he is writing out cheques left, right and centre since the inception of the new SGB, without the authorisation of the SGB chairperson and that this has already reportedly amounted to more than R20 000.”
The member further accused the principal of “trying to get rid of the new SGB” by “intimidating teachers and community members” to sign a petition against the SGB.
According to insiders, the problems between the community and the SGB are the result of “deepseated” anger brewing between the !Xun and the Khwe communities living in Platfontein, with the school now being used as a battleground for issues between the two groups.
The Northern Cape Department of Education yesterday confirmed that a meeting took place with the SGB and community representatives from !Xhunkwesa Combined School.
“Schooling was disrupted for the past two days due to divisions in the community as well as their unhappiness with one of the educators at the school. Subsequently, we have issued the educator with a letter requesting her not to report to school as from tomorrow, as we cannot guarantee her safety. We are also appealing to the school community to remain calm and refrain from denying their children the right to education, while we are trying to find an amicable solution. We expect schooling to return to normal as from tomorrow (today),” department spokesperson, Geoffrey van der Merwe said yesterday.
He added that the department would continue to engage with the SGB to resolve all outstanding issues.
Meanwhile, the Sol Plaatje Municipality yesterday indicated that water tanks would be delivered to Platfontein, after a recurring water leak had left the area without water since the weekend.