LIMPOPO – ANGRY learners at the Mandela Barloworld Agricultural High School in Modjadjiskloof barricaded the school gates in protest against what they called “the worst case scenario of xenophobia” in their school.

Gr. 10 to 12 learners marched out of the classrooms and barricaded the school gates last week. They protested against the dismissal of a teacher who is a Zimbabwean national. President for the Learners Representative Council (LRC), Thabiso Machethe, told CV that the teacher, Tobias Maphosa, had not committed any offence when he was dismissed.

“His sin was the place of his origin, his accent, his dress code and his physical appearance. The management dismissed him from the school because he originates from Zimbabwe. They dismissed him because he had a different accent and way of dressing. He was dismissed because he had a different bone structure that distinguished him from South Africans,” Machethe said.

A member of the school governing body at the school, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told CV that the management disliked Maphosa because he was punctual, articulate and always thought out of the box.

Gr. 12 learner, Masabatha Mothele, said Maphosa was the cream of the crop. “He was a committed, hard-working teacher who introduced morning, afternoon and weekend studies to the school. He was God-sent. To demonstrate his love for learning and teaching, he would visit parents of learners who performed dismally to help them,” Masabatha said.

Jacqueline Kgatla, also a gr. 12 learner, told CV that Maphosa taught physical science, life science and natural science from gr. 10 to 12. She said Maphosa had left a void.

“Through him we were able to pass with distinctions. Now we believe we will all fail our mid-year and end of the year exams because he is not here,” she said.

“Through him we were able to pass with distinctions. Now we believe we will all fail our mid-year and end of the year exams because he is not here”

Pressed for comment, Maphosa could only say: “I was not furnished with reasons as to why I was dismissed”. He, however, refused to comment further, saying: “I am not allowed to speak to the media”.

South African National Civic Organisation secretary in the Greater Letaba Municipality, Edward Sefoto, said the practise of xenophobia towards the Zimbabwean teacher was a “great offence to the gains of freedom that we fought for”.

ANC regional secretary in the Mopani region, Baisekopo Makamo, said the ANC said no to xenophobia, and harsh action should be taken against those who practised it. He said the government of South Africa had good relations with African countries and so should its people.

Makamo further said it was the duty of the authorities to protect the teacher and not allow him to be thrown to the wolves.

Education spokesperson, Paena Galane, said it was untrue that the teacher was chased away for no apparent reason. “Our preliminary investigation has shown that the teacher did not have the minimum academic qualification requirement to serve as an educator in the province. This was proven during the department’s re-evaluation of academic qualifications, work permits and other relevant authentic documents of foreign national educators within the province.

“But we have dispatched a team of senior education professionals to investigate further on the matter and report back to the department as a matter of urgency,” Galane said.