Ithute Primary School parents and SGB accuse the school principal of corruption and tribalism

Learning and teaching at Ithute Primary School resumed after it was temporally closed after parents embarked on a strike on 11 March.

The provincial department of Basic Education and the School Governing Body (SGB) at Ithute Primary School held a special meeting in which they agreed to work out issues and grievances raised by a group of concerned parents at the school.

This was after a group of angry parents and SGB members blockaded the school gates with a pile of collected tree branches at around 6.30am, demanding that the school principal Mduduzi Gwala is removed from the school.

Teaching and learning at the school had to be canceled on the day and schoolchildren sent back home as teachers and staff members were denied entry into the school by angry parents.

Protesting parents who were carrying placards written ‘Gwala Must Go’ accused the principal who has been at the helm of the school since 2013 of corruption, mismanagement, tribalism, and side-lining SGB in the decision making at the school.

The chairperson of the SGB at the school Sizeka Gcanga told Alex News that parents have requested numerous meetings with the school principal which he failed to attend.

“Our principal has no respect for us as parents and the community of Alexandra. He disrespects us, the SGB and our children. The parents have requested meetings with the school principal numerous times to come and give answers to some of their questions but he failed to attend. We reported the matter to the department of education at district offices but nothing was done,” Gcanga explained.

“This past weekend, on the 9th of March we [the parents] held a meeting which he was supposed to attend but failed to pitch once again. The parents then decided in that meeting to stop him from entering the school and continue teaching their children.”

Gcanga said the SGB and Department of Education met later on the day to discuss issues raised by the parents and agreed to convene a special meeting with the parents soon.

The spokesperson at Gauteng Department of Basic Education Steve Mabona said they were still waiting for the report from officials charged by the department to resolve the matter between parties involved at the school.

The principal of the school accused some members of the school governing body of fabricating unfounded allegations against him. He said the allegations were under investigation by the provincial department of basic education and he can not comment on them until the investigation is finalised.

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