School ‘should have fired teacher’

The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) yesterday rejected the resignation of a St John’s College teacher found guilty at a disciplinary hearing of making racist comments, saying he should have been fired instead.

“Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi must urgently review his decision to accept St John’s College’s decision to assent to the teacher’s resignation as it technically shields the perpetrator and lets him off the hook,” Sanco national spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu said.

“The distinction between a dismissal and a resignation is crucial, as the latter suggests that the school has abdicated its responsibility to uphold the Constitution and South African Council of Educators (SACE) teachers’ code of conduct,” he said.

Mahlangu called on the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the SACE to investigate the sanction and “arrive at a determination whether the teacher was not given the right of passage that leaves the option for him to join another education institution as an unrepentant racist teacher because his wrongdoing is covered by the resignation”.

Private schools were increasingly perceived as “bastions of racism for their demonstrated failure to deal decisively with it every time it rears its ugly head”, Mahlangu said.