WATCH: Pinetown Boys’ staff calls for the department to respond to their grievances

THE staff at Pinetown Boy’s High School have resorted to protest action in an effort to draw attention to their grievances which they say have fallen on deaf ears.

Staff members, who spoke to the Highway Mail anonymously, said their rights are being violated and they are not consulted on decisions which affect them and their work.

ALSO READ: Hillcrest protest highlights restaurant plight amidst lockdown restrictions

“We are concerned about the illegitimacy of the school governing body.”

The staff claimed the school is being mismanaged.

Another issue raised was the lack of contracts.

“There were teachers who were dismissed last year who have now been re-employed but have no contracts,” said the staff.

They also complained about the leadership of the school.

“We do not have a principal in this school since last year,” they added.

They said the salaries of the staff who are employed by the School Governing Body (SGB) were cut.

“We were told it was just going to be for three months but we still did not receive our full salaries and we are back at the school working full-time.”

The staff said they understand that times are tough but they would appreciate a bit of communication and to be treated as professionals.

“We care and love our boys, the things that are happening at the school will affect our boys. We just need the department to take our grievances seriously.”

They said the daily running of the school has not been affected as the protest action takes place before the start of the school day.

They added that will continue until their demands are met or taken seriously.

The Highway Mail arrived just before 9am and everything looked normal as the learners were being taught inside their classrooms.

KZN Department of Education spokesman, Sihle Mlotshwa said he was not aware of the matter but will compile a report from the district.

“We will look at their grievances so that we can solve the matter,” he said.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).

At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.