A joint contingent of SAPS members, metro police officers, and crime prevention wardens was called in on Wednesday at Akasia Hoerskool, north of Pretoria, to keep at bay a group of parents protesting after their children were allegedly not placed at the school despite living in close proximity.
Protesters voiced their discontent with the Gauteng Department of Education’s online application system, citing unfairness in its allocation process and that the system prioritises out-of-area learners over local children.
They further alleged that numerous learners from outside the area had bribed their way into the school, paying R4 500 to secure admission.
They claimed that some parents from outside the area were exploiting a loophole in the system by using local residents’ physical addresses to claim proximity to the school.
One of the parents, Khatha Maila, said: “It is unbelievable that learners from Soshanguve, which is roughly 30 kilometres away, have been accepted, while our children, who live just around the corner, have been overlooked.”
He said parents were not getting satisfactory answers from the school as their queries were directed to the district office of education.
“My child was not placed at the four schools that we preferred and they decided to place her in the school that they want. My child should be in Grade 8, but she is currently at home. The school that they want for her is about 30km from home whereas this school is 5km from our home,” he said.
Maila said the idea for an online system is great but its implementation is bad.
“There are a lot of loopholes where people are buying space for R4 500 just to get their kids allocated, hence you can see a kid from Soshanguve getting space here whereas someone staying next to the school is not getting space,” he said.
Another protester, who wanted to remain anonymous, said parents wanted clarity on how the procedure for online application works.
“It is better that they give us clarity from those schools we applied to. Our children have been allocated to schools that we didn’t apply for. All we need as parents is to allocate school according to the area where we are living; not a school where a child will have to wake up at 4am while she can wake up at 6am because the school is closer to her home,” the protester said.
Thamsanqa Shabangu, a community leader and EFF member, convened a meeting with the school principal while parents were chanting songs outside the premises.
He said there are approximately 140 parents who were left distraught after their children failed to secure placement at the school.
He alleged that the department had falsely claimed it had secured a place in the area to accommodate learners who were not placed at Akasia Hoerskool.
“We succeeded in engaging the principal and the school government body telling them that they don’t have to run the school like their own spaza shops,” he said.
He said the way forward is to give the school 10 days to conduct a headcount of learners residing in the surrounding area, who will subsequently be prioritised for placement.
“Another proposed solution from the parents is to close down the district office and bring MEC for Education Matome Chiloane to the ground because he is also not responding to communication from the community,” he said.
Department spokesperson, Steve Mabona, was reached out for comment, but he has yet to respond. This article will be updated accordingly once a statement is received from him.
The Star
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za