Cape Town - On World Teacher’s Day, supporters of former Heathfield High principal Wesley Neumann gathered to reaffirm their support as the legal battle with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) rages on.
Political parties, trade unions, non-governmental organisations, learners, parents among others, attended a media briefing regarding the matter, at the Wave Café Theatre in Long Street.
Guest speakers included Al Jama-ah Party leader Ganief Hendricks, United South Africa president Colleen Titus, the GOOD Party’s Brett Herron, the ANC’s Muhammad Khalid Sayed, and SA 1st forum convener and advocate Rod Solomons, among others.
Neumann had refused to reopen the school during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, following directives to do so by the department. Claims of R2.6 million spent by the WCED to deal with the matter were rejected.
Solons said: “This amount of money when this guy is not even accused of a major offence like fraud, theft, sexual harassment or meting out corporal punishment to a learner. So it is our considered view that this can clearly be regarded as fruitless and wasteful expenditure and it smacks of extreme vindictiveness.”
He added that the SA 1st forum had written to the public protector, the auditor-general and the public service commission to investigate the expenditure.
Sayed said Neumann’s “persecution” was a textbook case of abuse of power as well as the abuse of the public purse.
Herron said that the school system in terms of infrastructure and resources was still mired in inequalities and disparities, leaving some schools at a greater disadvantage and risk during the pandemic.
“This meant that some learners were assumed to be in safer environments than others were and so some students were actually at a higher risk of viral spread because of the disparities that exist in our school infrastructure and school systems that have never been addressed for almost 30 years post-1994.”
Neumann has since approached the Education Labour Relations Council. He expressed gratitude for the support over the two years, and hoped for a resolution to be reached soon.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond confirmed that charges of misconduct against another educator and supporter of Neumann had been made, and said it was untrue that R2.6 million had been spent on the matter.