While matriculants nationally are waiting for the results which will dictate their next move, questions are pilling at the Free State Department of Education following a leaked video of the year-end party at Saint Bernard School, on Catholic grounds, where teachers were drinking alcohol, smoking hubbly bubbly and the principal dancing of top of the table.
Schools and teachers are expected to be morally and professionally exemplary, not least those who operate within the confines of a Catholic church—just like Saint Bernard’s High School in Bloemfontein—they seem to be chief contributors to the ongoing surge in alcohol abuse and moral decay that have become a disturbing fibre of our society.
A person would expect schools to show the youth a better way of living but this was not the case with Saint Bernard’s High School principal, Lerato Mazimba and some of her staff members, including Education Assistants, who were caught on camera dancing on the school tables with alcohol and hubbly bubbly their reliable companions.
To watch ths video please click on the link below
Catholic school turned into a shebeen in Bloemfontein. @DBE_SA https://t.co/YBBh1yo2m6
As things stand, the South African Schools Act (SASA) of 1996 prohibits the use of alcohol on school premises, under any circumstances. Not forgetting that the buildings and grounds still belong to the Church.
Despite this, Step Up SA News also has it on good authority that this is not the first time something of this nature happened at the school. There are other instances where the school principal allegedly consumed alcohol on school premises with her office staff and the cleaners without any consequences. She also allegedly went as far as shielding one of her favourite departmental heads when he drank on duty, in one social event involving learners and insulting his female colleagues. A question arises whether she shields all of her companions like this, let us not forget the teacher who harassed a learner and continued to educate the same learner despite her being uncomfortable.
A source close to the school who spoke on condition of anonymity blamed MEC Makgoe.
“You can talk to her current and former colleagues, they have always been troubled by how she became the principal in the first place. Let us use matric results to judge her performance. She was deployed to Vulamasango in 2015 and managed to get 72,1% in that year, a significant drop from 88,4% the previous year. In 2016, the same school got a 65,7% matric pass. In just two years that she was the principal at this school, there was a whopping 22,7% drop in matric results under her watch.
Never mind the fact that this school had fairly intellectually accessible subjects like Tourism. Due to the alleged poor people’s relations at this school, coupled with her poor academic results, the powers that be at the district level, supported by MEC Makgoe, then deployed her to St. Bernards in 2017, the school she was the deputy, to replace the then principal, Thapelo Pitso. Her colleagues at the school allege, due to her close relations with the Motheo District director, December Moloi, she plotted Mr. Pitso’s removal. This close relationship with such people, coupled with her questionable leadership credentials, is the reason her colleagues question her redeployment at St. Bernard’s.
“In her first year as the new captain of St. Bernard’s, she registered 71,4%, a drop from 81,3% (-9,9%). Was her deployment justifiable? To stage their displeasure at how she was doing things at the school, the teachers started to boycott end-year functions and matric farewell parties,” said a former governing body member.
Things got worse in 2017 when she took over the matric camp with her admin clerk, Jane Ralekoala. Step Up SA News has it on good authority that these camps do not have detailed financial records to outline how the parents’ monies were spent. This vicious cycle continued until 2019 when a few stubborn colleagues formed the committee responsible for all the interventions programmes at the school, including running the camp. “Though this committee still has its flaws, I was relieved they forced things,” a stakeholder close to the situation revealed.
One of the grave concerns is her alleged alienation of her colleagues, especially her deputy and other school management team (SMT) members. In this school, “she trusts her admin clerk, Jane Ralekoala, than her SMT,” said a source close to the situation. “She consults her on almost anything, including the appointment of educators. If she had the powers, Jane would even fire all the teachers at St. Bernard’s,” added another source.
Thabiso Mabaso, Congress of South African Students Free State Provincial Secretary said they are disappointed at the management of the school and teachers.
“As Congress of South African Students in Free State Province, we are deeply disappointed with the management of the school and teachers and their behavior they displayed during the year end function. These are the very same people who should be guiding pupils along the right path, they can’t also be seen as part of the problem. It creates a very bad picture of the kind of teachers we have in our schools.
We hope the Department of Education will be firm and harsh in dealing with this behavior.
School act states clearly that alcohol and hubbly bubbly are forbidden in school premises, that on its own is a transgression let alone teachers dancing on top of school tables. This puts teaching profession in bad light and this is a respectable profession.”
When Step Up SA News contacted a church representative to comment on these scenes, she was visibly angry and said it was a “disgrace to see things like that on a church-owned property”. Step Up News wonders if the Church will act in anyway as the building and grounds are theirs and have a right to ask for their property if not happy.
The question remains: when the school principal flaunts regulations like SASA, what more of the rest of the staff?
Howard Ndaba, Free State Education Spokesperson, didn’t respond to questions while December Moloi coud not be reached for comment.
Good morning.
Indeed this very disturbing and totally unacceptable.
The FSDBE will have to act quickly following all procedures.
We hoping national will intervene
It hurts to see my former school becoming a joke like this. I matriculated there in 2003 and the then principal mev Wymers (commonly known as Mevrou) always taught us respect and integrity…most of all to remember that we represent the school as a whole so to act accordingly. What is sad is that Mrs Mazimba was our teacher and we looked up to her. She too was once a learner there. This kind of behavior is something she would never allow.
Let’s hope this does not happen again