The grandmother of an 11-year-old pupil who was forced to strip and sent down a pit toilet by a principal at his school to retrieve his phone says she feels sorry for the educator who has been fired by the department of education.
Lubeko Mgandela, an educator at Luthuthu Junior Secondary School in Ugie in the Eastern Cape was booted for instructing the Grade 4 pupil to retrieve his phone from a pit toilet in March.
Education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima on Tuesday confirmed to Sowetan’s sister publication Daily Dispatch that Mgandela had been fired.
Mgandela, 49, has appealed his dismissal.
“He was given 30 days until end of April to appeal the decision,” Mtima said.
Mtima said they were waiting for the outcome of the appeal that Mgandela lodged with the office of MEC Fundile Gade.
“He appealed against the recommendations by the disciplinary committee that found him guilty on the grounds that he instructed a pupil to do that [to fetch a phone from the toilet].”
The grandmother from Phalisa village, who cannot be named to protect the child's identity, said she was relieved with the outcome.
“When I heard the news that the principal was fired, I was relieved because that will teach many others not to subject our children to inhumane conditions. W,e send them to school to get an education. However, I do feel sorry for the principal because he is also human but what he did to my son was very cruel.”
She said her grandson was doing well and had seen a psychologist to help him deal with the trauma.
Mtima said the school had an acting principal and that the department was busy with the recruitment process.
Mgandela has a pending case of child abuse and is out on R2,500 bail.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Luxolo Tyali confirmed Mgandela was back in the Tsolo magistrate court on Monday for his trial.
The grandmother had at the time of the incident described how the boy had come home with a funny smell.
“I asked him what happened but he did not say anything. It was after I spoke to his cousin, who is also in the same school, that I learnt of the incident. Apparently, the principal called a group of learners to use buckets to take out faeces from the toilet to make it easier for my grandchild to get inside,” she told Sowetan at the time.
She said her grandson was allegedly told to take off his pants and to only leave his underwear on.
“They tied a rope around his waist and gave him two hand gloves to search for the phone. He did not get the phone, but the principal gave him R50. What happened to him is very sad. The principal, accompanied by members of school governing body, only came to see me on Friday and they apologised for what happened,” she said.
The incident was widely condemned by child advocacy organisations, labelling it the worst form of abuse.
Community member Sithembiso Gwampa said villagers were happy with the verdict.
“What he did to the boy was inhumane. The boy could have died. We do not need such people around our kids,” Gwampa said.
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