In the letter entitled Your allegations are unfounded (published on 3 November) Mr George, Princess Primary School Deputy Principal, suggests that my complaint was poorly researched.
He alleges that the littering is the result of residents and vagrants carelessly disposing of rubbish in the school’s junior playground areas and areas along the boundary fence. Let me set the record straight. In my first letter (Principal scared of hawkers) published on 24 October 2016, I referred to my meeting with the school principal, Mr Sithi, when I raised my concerns.
He acknowledged that the learners were responsible for littering, but also blamed the hawkers outside the school for the mess. This allegation appeared in that letter. Mr Sithi also mentioned receiving calls and visits from other community members registering their concern about the learners’ littering.
My letter was followed up by another long-time Witpoortjie resident, Elza Wilson, in a letter entitled The hawkers are not the only ones to blame, published on 15 November, noting the same mess in the streets, and suggesting that learners are not being taught about littering. She also expressed concern about children being on the streets after school for hours, unsupervised and waiting for transport, and suggested that the Department of Education be brought in to address the situation.
Returning to Mr George’s letter, which suggests that community members haven’t reached out to the school’s management on this matter – I find that rather disturbing. It indicates that the principal hasn’t discussed this issue with him – or he’s faking amnesia. I know of neighbours who have been in and out of the principal’s office regarding the matter, as Mr Sithi said to me. Tell the whole truth and own up, Mr George, as Australian businessman JI Parker once said “A half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth”. It is understandable to want to protect the image of the school, but I find his letter riddled with untruths and inaccuracies. It looks like he’s never taken a walk outside the school to where the learners wait for transport to see the amount of litter they leave behind.
He also casts doubt on whether the matter was escalated to the Department of Education District Director, Mr Dennis Macuacua, alleging that Mr Sithi does not report to Mr Macuacua. While that may be true, Mr George’s colleagues in the Gauteng Provincial Education Department have confirmed that the matter was reported to Mr Macuacua on 3 November 2016, and that he acted upon it, according to his response (in my possession) to emails pointing to his engagements with the school authority. The matter of the unsupervised children running around the neighbourhood after school was also raised with him, and he recommended that the matter be escalated to the ward councillor so that by-laws could be enforced.
My common sense tells me that Mr Macuacua could have directed me to the relevant person if he wasn’t responsible. To cut a long story short, it looks like Mr George didn’t consult with Mr Sithi before writing his letter. That could have helped Mr George to reflect and not become defensive.
It was only after the matter was reported to Mr Macuacua and ward councillor Rene Benjamin that on certain days, things improved, but they went back to square one because of lack of monitoring. Since there was obviously no consistency in dealing with the matter, a concerned group of Witpoortjie residents then escalated the matter to the office of Mayor Herman Mashaba a few weeks ago, and now we see some real change. I should thank both the office of the Mayor and Superintendent Sonai of Region C Roodepoort Station for the improvement.
In parting – Mr George invited community members who have genuine concerns with the school to engage with its management and refrain from writing letters to the media. That’s most welcome and most sensible, but we’ve been engaging with the principal for a long time, without any tangible results. You have to take the community’s concerns seriously for us to have confidence in your leadership. Failure to address those concerns leaves us with no option but to escalate to other platforms.
