Parents of learners at Pfundzo Ditshedza Primary School in Mamelodi East Extension 6 want the school’s principal Margarette Seroka out of the school permanently.
The incensed parents blockaded the school’s gate, prevented Seroka from entering the school’s premises and demanded her immediate resignation.
This as they accuse her of formenting maladministration and corruption at the school.
The irate parents threatened to shut the school down permanently should Seroka return as the principal of the school.
Community leader known as Joyce told Tshwane Talks that since Seroka assumed the principalship of Pfundzo Ditshedza Primary School in 2019 she has brought nothing but chaos to the school.
“We are gathered here at the school because of the school principal’s unruly behaviour as she doesn’t cooperate with teachers and the School Governing Body (SGB)” she said.
She claimed that when the principal calls meetings she only invites two members of the SGB and ignores the rest of the SGB members.
“One of the SGB members is a grandmother who doesn’t have the right to be an SGB member,” she said.
“Principal Margaret Seroka addresses our kids with hateful messages at school’s assembly meetings and always stresses that some teachers and we as parents hate her, so our concern is what lesson is the principal disseminating among the learners,” she said.
“The principal also has a tendency to refer to the parents of Pfundzo Ditshedza Primary School as stupid, yet they are the ones who welcomed her to to the school when she took over as the principal,” she said.
“We are not fighting against the principal, but all that we want is for her to leave our school permanently as she does not set a motherly example to the teachers and learners of Pfundzo Ditshedza, she fights against certain teachers, she sets up secret meetings with a few teachers in order to expel certain teachers, we are very crossed as the community because she holds bogus caucus meetings wherein she plans to expel the school’s former acting principal Mrs Makola and also plans to expel Mr Kekana, who is a teacher at the school,” she said.
She said as parents they have written numerous letters to the head office of the Department of Basic Education since last year but have not received any response in this regard.
She claimed that Education District Manager known as Mabotja is the one who is in cahoots with Principal Seroka regarding maladministration and corruption at the school.
She pointed out that there has never been upgrading in infrastructure projects since Seroka took over as principal.
“The principal has said she makes no use of SGB and the only SGB member she takes into consideration is the chairperson of the SGB, who earns a salary at the expense of the school, and this is unlawful,” she said.
She further said principal Seroka would for instance hire a welder for R10 000 but would encourage the said welder to inflate the price to R50 000 so that the test of the money would fall into her hands.
She also pointed out that the principal threatens workers with setting hired killers (inkabi) on them if they bother her as the principal.
She also said armed gunmen went to the school and threatened to kill her Grade 7 grandchild after school principal Seroka phoned them to come and kill him.