The saga of the Limpopo teenage girl who committed suicide after she was allegedly bullied by her teacher continues with the suspension of the teacher a week ago.
It is not clear why the teacher was suspended though the pressure brought to bear by the parents and community members who protested against her continued presence at the school may have forced the hand of the provincial department to contain the volatile situation.
The suspension letter was handed to the teacher on Friday amid angry community members who had blocked the gates, demanding her suspension and that a formal investigation into the suicide case is launched.
Reports indicate they were armed with dangerous weapons and flammable substances, threatening to set the school and the teacher’s house alight, claiming both the department and school governing body were acting slowly against her.
Tensions were quelled after Limpopo education MEC Polly Boshielo addressed the group, telling them she had suspended the teacher. What were most disheartening during this entire episode were the thoughtless utterances of Boshielo when she sought to play to the gallery and throw the teacher under the bus.
“Yes, I can now speak with a great sigh of relief that the teacher accused of bullying the poor child has been suspended with immediate effect,” Boshielo said
“They all know in this province I don’t take s**t. Where I suspect the lives of children are in danger, I don’t hesitate, but I act. That’s why they call me Deputy Mother because I always have the interest of all children at heart.
“I want all the teachers and members of the SGB to know they are second parents to every schoolchild. …”
The self-proclaimed Deputy Mother was not done as she continued pontificating: “But when the same teacher, entrusted by the parents to protect them and prepare them to face the world abuses them, he/she will have to deal with me first.”
It must be said without equivocation that Boshielo’s pathetic attempts at ingratiating herself to the parents and the community at the expense of the beleaguered teacher are both stupid and dangerous.
They are stupid in the sense that she is supposed to know that the suspension of the teacher does not presuppose guilt in any way which she seems to be hinting at. The emotive language she uses to refer to the deceased as the “poor child” is meant to minimise the role of the late pupil in this tragedy and evoke a sense of outrage against the teacher.
It must be remembered that the girl triggered this tragedy when she taunted the teacher on social media about her “ugly” shoes. Instead of facing the consequences of her misdemeanour, she chose to take her own life. While the teacher may have overreacted, she certainly did not play any active part towards her death.
As a representative of the teacher’s employer, the MEC falls foul of the Labour Relations Act by not respecting the rights of the employee.
Secondly, Boshielo’s utterances are dangerous because by pre-empting the guilt of the teacher, she might lead the teacher to the brink where she may feel the pressure of her assumed guilt as too much. Boshielo’s conduct seems like that of a mampara on a power trip. She needs to tone it down because people’s lives are involved here.
What she needed to tell the community was that the suspension of the teacher was not a presumption of her guilt, but simply to allow investigations into her alleged misconduct.
The department will first have to frame a case against the teacher and adhere to the audi alteram partem rule which is the principle that no person should be judged without a fair hearing in which each party is given the opportunity to respond to the evidence.
The MEC cannot in sobriety assert that any transgressing teacher has to deal with her first as there are laws that govern their conduct.
While sympathising with the bereaved family, the alleged misconduct of the teacher should be handled in a fair, consistent and just manner and she must certainly not be sacrificed to a lynch mob.
It is incumbent upon the employer to determine whether the teacher has a case to answer and if so to expedite her disciplinary hearing so the affected parties can put this tragic matter behind them and move on with their lives.
A word of advice for Boshielo, please hold your horses, Deputy Mother.
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