Hon Speaker, the Sowetan of 30 August 2011 led with the headline, "Schools under siege". It carried stories of disruptions at two schools in the Gauteng province. [Interjections.]
Hon Ellis, order! Continue, hon member. [Laughter.]
At one school, pupils were demanding the reinstatement of the school principal and at the other school they were demanding the dismissal of the school principal. There is a growing trend in the country where communities evict principals from schools. We want to emphasise that teachers and principals are the employees of the Department of Basic Education and employed in accordance with the Employment of Educators Act. If there are allegations of misconduct against any teacher or principal, people who are aggrieved must report to the employer, who shall investigate and, if need be, invoke disciplinary procedures against that person.
Azapo condemns in the strongest possible terms situations where teachers and/or principals are subjected to evictions by communities, and calls upon the Department of Basic Education and provincial departments to embark on a campaign to educate communities.
We know of cases where principals were evicted and the department could not find any evidence of wrongdoing, yet those principals could not return to their stations because of threats of violence by sections of the community. Some principals have been reporting to the district or circuit offices for more than five years. Their schools and communities are being deprived of the services they could be rendering. Our schools should be centres of learning, not battlefields where people come to settle scores that have nothing to do with schools or education. Thank you. [Applause.]