MEC Schäfer sets the record straight

WITH reference to the letter by Charles Thomas (26 April 2022), I feel it is now time for me to respond to this ongoing false narrative, and set a few facts straight.

The WCED is a huge organisation of around 42 000 staff. In any organisation, public or private, there are rules as to how one is expected to behave. If every individual feels that they have the right to say and do whatever they feel like, it will lead to chaos in the system. The majority of people understand this. Unfortunately, Brian Isaacs did not. He was not dismissed for speaking out against the department. He was dismissed for his contemptuous and disrespectful attitude and behaviour to his superiors – not me, but people who work with him every day. He seems to believe that a different set of rules should apply to him. Well, they don’t. And he has spent every day since on a bitter revenge mission, unfortunately influencing others along the way. I feel nothing but pity for a bitter and twisted man who has done some good things in education, but if you cannot work within a system, it is best to get out of it.

To try and compare the situation to the Sans Souci hair issue is likewise disingenuous. I personally went to Sans Souci during that protest, and we launched an investigation. That principal chose to resign. In contrast, Isaacs chose to continue his mission and when we tried to at least allow him a dignified exit, he ran to the media and claimed we were trying to bribe him. Such a person does not deserve to lead a school.

As regards Brian Schreuder, it is not uncommon to keep people in government on contract if their skills are needed. It happens regularly. Brian has decades of experience and many skills in education. He was appointed via a proper process which has even been found as such when it was referred to the Public Service Commission, such is the vendetta some people continue to wage against people they have personal issues with.

The “all-white” matric event at Brackenfell High was also investigated by the Human Rights

Commission, which came to the same conclusion as we did – that there was nothing racist about it, and it was a private event not organised by the school.

Once again the ridiculous claim that our amendment to the Western Cape Provincial Schools Education Act promoted the sale of alcohol at schools rears its head. The writer would clearly prefer that the sale of alcohol at school events be entirely unregulated, with no control over access. Nothing else could explain the reversion to this claim, for which absolutely no evidence can be found. It is also only to provide for events outside school hours without children in attendance.

And insofar as the closure of Uitsig is concerned, if Mr Thomas would like any child to attend that school, then his commitment to the wellbeing of our learners should be questioned, not mine. The school was literally being carried away by criminals and vandals, and was not safe. If communities are not willing to look after their school infrastructure, they should not be upset when we close the school.

The perpetuation of these myths in the Goebbels-like belief that if they are repeated enough they will be believed to be true is nauseating. And the fact that they continue to be printed without any factual analysis is a sad indictment on the state of the media in South Africa.

DEBBIE SCHäFER | Western Cape MEC of Education