Principal not responsible for screening of R-rated movie at primary school
Roodepoort Record apologises to Mr Hlatshwayo.
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) have finalised their investigation into the screening of a rated film at Jozua Naudé Primary School, and found no wrongdoing on the part of the school’s former principal, Mr MF Hlatshwayo.
The screening was on June 2, 2017. Although the matter had been finalised for some time, it did not come to the attention of Roodepoort Record until recently. Roodepoort Record apologises for not requesting follow-up information from the GDE sooner. Roodepoort Record apologises to Mr Hlatshwayo.
Mr Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the GDE, confirmed the outcome yesterday (April 16, 2020).
“This is to confirm that Mr Hlatshwayo was never charged, meaning that there was no disciplinary action taken against him … on the day in question, he requested an early departure that was duly authorised,” Mabona said.
In fact, the GDE found that some of the school’s teachers and a department head had shown the film. Roodepoort Record confirmed that they were admonished during internal procedures at the school. Their identities were not confirmed to the publication.
“We wish to place it on record that Mr Hlatshwayo was not present at the given moment and cannot be deemed responsible for such activity,” said Mabona.
- The below report was updated to reflect the above developments on April 16, 2020.
Roodepoort Record previously reported that a movie with a 16 LVD (language, violence and scenes of substance abuse) age restriction was screened for Jozua Naudé Primary School’s Grade 6 and 7 learners. In addition to finding no fault on the part of Mr Hlatshwayo, the GDE found that no harm came to the pupils after watching the film.
An email from an anonymous source, identified only as ‘a concerned parent’, informed the publication of the incident. Roodepoort Record proceeded to investigate whether the incident had indeed taken place.
The screening took place on June 2, 2017. The following was written about the movie Keanu on a website on which parents could rate the appropriateness of movies for their children. “Parents need to know that the action comedy Keanu marks the big-screen debut of TV comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. Even though the plot centres around a cute kitten, the content is frequently over the top and not for younger audiences. Strong, frequent violence includes guns and shooting, blood spurts, dead bodies, car chases, fighting, and more. Scenes set inside a strip club include topless women, and there are other sexual references too. Several characters are drug dealers, and the main characters use drugs and drink alcohol on more than one occasion. Language is very strong, with multiple uses of ‘f–k’, ‘s–t’, ‘c-ck’, ‘t-ts’, the ‘N’ word, ‘bitch’, ‘ass’, and more,” the parent wrote. Other reviews carried similar sentiments.
At the time, the Record also spoke to various local parents who unanimously agreed that they would not allow primary school children to watch such a movie. Some even added they would not let high school children watch it. Based on the principles of justifiably granting source anonymity, they have not been identified.
The author of the email did not respond to any of the Record’s requests for his/ her cellphone number.
Upon investigation, it seemed the email account was not working – it no longer existed.
Whereas speculation was previously doing the rounds about whether the parent had been malicious in sending the email, Roodepoort Record‘s independent investigation proved that its content (in as far as it reported the screening of a rated film at the school) was both true and in the public interest.
Later that year, Mr Hlatshwayo instituted a complaint against Roodepoort Record. Whereas reporting indicated that Mr Hlatshwayo spoke to the newspaper about the incident, he denied ever speaking to the publication’s journalist, Riaan van Zyl. The issue was adjudicated by the Press Ombudsman, Mr Johan Retief, who found in favour of the publication. However, this conclusion was arrived at before the outcome of the GDE investigation had become known.
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