Meet the Iron Lady with a gentle heart
Zille lauds school principal’s zero tolerance to vandalism
ACAPE Town school principal, dubbed the Iron Lady by her school governing body, whose zero tolerance approach to vandalism includes getting stolen items returned from pawn shops, has been recognised by Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
Die Duine Primary School principal Margot Kiewit, who has been teaching for 37 years, received a special mention in Zille’s State of the Province address last month.
“Mrs Kiewit has shown exceptional leadership in mobilising the community to end vandalism at the school,” Zille said.
“Mrs Kiewit rallied the community to prevent vandals damaging the building by organising school watches and hosting night classes for illiterate parents, thus developing the community and deterring the vandals.”
Kiewit said the school had an open-door policy for parents. “They can come to the school for any kind of assistance, for example if they need help with their pension or with finding a job.”
Night classes were attended by many parents as well as residents from outside the area, and Kiewit said initiatives such as this were crucial in getting parents and residents to take ownership of the school.
The school, which used to be housed in prefabricated buildings, received new buildings last year as part of the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative. Kiewit said although the old building had been frequently vandalised, there had been no incidents in the new building.
Among other things, parents and other residents now patrol the grounds during holidays.
She said that following a break-in in the old building in December, residents had rallied to find the school’s missing computer.
“Notices about the computer were put in all the shops. It wasn’t long before I was given information on who had taken the computer, and we could go to the police. The computer, with all the information on it, was recovered. Our message is: if you break into our school, you will be caught.”
Kiewit said the deputy principal had in the past visited pawnshops to retrieve the school’s missing items. “I see it as part of my duty to look after the school’s resources.”
The pupils at the school excel academically, and recently won an award in their circuit for their numeracy and literacy performance.
During last year’s provincial numeracy and literacy tests for Grade 3, 88.9 percent of the pupils got more than 50 percent. The average was 68.2 percent. In language, 65.7 percent passed, getting an average mark of 55.5 percent.
School governing body chairwoman Tracy Scott said Kiewit was an Iron Lady with a soft heart. “She is always willing to help parents and has helped to ensure that the community takes pride in the school.”
Our message is if you break into our school, you will be caught