Pretoria Girls: #BringBackOurManager – OPINION

28 October 2024

Today was to be the first day back to work for Miss Erasmus, principal of Pretoria Girls’ High School. Miss Erasmus was suspended from school on Friday, July 30, 2024, due to the latest racism scandal at the school. The 90-day suspension period ended yesterday, Sunday, October 27, 2024. However, ministry officials now argue that he cannot simply return to his job. They believe the restraining order, which has not yet occurred, should be formally released; This is an attitude that I find legally suspicious.

In my view, Ms. Erasmus’s suspension should have ended on August 2, 2024, immediately after the disciplinary hearing cleared the twelve accused students of racism. Since there is no racism in the WhatsApp group, it is inappropriate to accuse Ms Erasmus of mishandling the incident in October 2023. Once the issue was resolved, his sentence should have been lifted immediately.

But the Gauteng Department of Education pressed ahead, launching a new investigation into what it claimed was a “culture of racism” at the school. They appointed Mthuthuzeli Mdladlamba of Mdladlamba Inc Solicitors to lead this investigation. But the department has yet to release any evidence supporting its claims, leading many to view this investigation as little more than a fishing expedition. If Mr Mdladlamba had uncovered any inaccuracies we would surely have heard about it by now. But three months later, his report is nowhere to be seen.

Ms Erasmus’s suspension went from being unreasonable to clearly illegal. According to multiple sources, frustration is growing among staff and parents who want normalcy to resume. If the Ministry thought it could pressure Ms Erasmus to leave her position or destabilize the school by sacking senior staff, it underestimated both Ms Erasmus and Pretoria Girls’ High School, an institution with a 122-year legacy. Miss Erasmus is both popular and respected, and public patience is running thin.

By the way, this is my sixth article about Pretoria Girls. While it was satisfying to see the accused students vindicated, this situation dragged on in a boring way. The intellectual debate has now been fully resolved, but all that remains is to return the school to its normal functioning.