Orphan loses hostel place in fees row

“I have never seen anything like it — he kicked me out of his office like a dog.”

Yet all the woman wanted was clarity from the Makaula Senior Secondary School principal as to why her orphaned granddaughter had been kicked out of the school and hostel.

The matric pupil at the KwaBhaca school, who lost her parents before the age of one, nor her grandmother have been named to protect her identity.

She has been living at the hostel from Grade 10 and was exempted from paying school and boarding fees because her grandmother cannot not afford them.

But in a surprising turn of events, the school principal, identified only as a Mr Mbana, allegedly kicked her out in June, demanding that two years’ worth of fees be paid.

The education department says it is investigating.

This has “devastated” the pupil, her grandmother said.

“Apparently the principal heard she was under foster care and that there was some money coming into the house.

“To keep the peace I gave her R500 in June to go and deposit into the school bank account. In August I gave her R900,” the grandmother said.

She said Mbana had called her to meet him at the school to “explain” the matter.

“When I asked why he would demand two years’ worth of school fees, yet there was a standing agreement, he started shouting at me and told me to get out.

“He kicked me out like a dog. But then, I found the courage to go back in again.

“All I wanted was to get my granddaughter’s clothes from hostel and he shouted again and told me to get out.”

She said she had escalated the matter to the district education office in KwaBhaca.

She said her granddaughter was back at school, but still out of the hostel.

“One of her classmate’s family was gracious enough to take her in,” she said.

Attempts to source comment from Mbana were unsuccessful at the time of writing as his phone went straight to voicemail. He also did not respond to a text message.

But provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said school principals were not involved “in the decision making processes” of financial concessions at schools.

“The department is investigating the allegations and consulting all relevant stakeholders to solve this matter.”