High Court sides with Oakdale pupils in landmark vaping punishment case

wo Grade 10 rugby players from Oakdale Agricultural School in Riversdale, Western Cape, have taken on their school in court and won. Their crime? Being caught with vapes. Their punishment? A string of sanctions so severe that a High Court judge has now ruled them unlawful and excessive.

From hostel to High Court

The boys, identified only as *L and *M, are both scholarship recipients and hostel boarders at the rugby-focused school. They were first caught with vapes in 2023 and again in August 2024. After the second incident, the school’s governing body expelled them from the hostel permanently, despite the boys already serving a six-week suspension and admitting fault.

Attempts by their parents to appeal the decision went nowhere, with one father told outright that he had “no right” to challenge it. Legal teams argued that the school’s governing body overstepped its authority by bypassing the provincial head of department, as required by law.

A punishment that snowballed

What started as a disciplinary hearing escalated dramatically. Even after hostel expulsion was eventually dropped, the school imposed a wave of new penalties: revoking scholarships, banning the boys from leadership roles until matric, and suspending them from sport, school events, and extra-murals until mid-2025.

By March this year, the boys had been isolated from most of school life for more than 15 weeks, cut off from rugby fields, classrooms, and the hostel community.

Judge calls it ‘harsh and humiliating’

Western Cape High Court Judge Gayaat Da Silva Salie overturned the sanctions, ruling that the school’s actions were procedurally flawed and “inappropriately harsh.” She stressed that stripping the boys of scholarships, sport, and leadership opportunities went far beyond reasonable discipline and risked harming their futures. All penalties were set aside.

Why this matters

This ruling sends a strong message to schools across South Africa: punishments must be proportionate, legally sound, and mindful of learners’ long-term well-being. The case could shape how boarding schools and bursary-based institutions enforce their codes of conduct, especially in sport-driven environments where scholarships are a lifeline for many pupils.

Public reaction: mixed but eye-opening

The ruling has sparked debate. On social media, some parents argue the school should have been tougher, warning that vaping is a growing problem among teens. Others believe the case exposes how schools sometimes use discipline to strip learners of opportunities, especially when scholarships are involved.

As one X user put it: “Yes, vaping is wrong. But destroying a child’s future for a mistake? That’s not discipline, that’s cruelty.”

Bigger picture: discipline vs dignity

Discipline remains a pillar of South Africa’s boarding schools, but this case forces a bigger conversation: where do schools draw the line between teaching responsibility and inflicting punishment that can derail young lives?

For *L and *M, the ruling means a second chance both in the classroom and on the rugby field. For the rest of the country, it sets a precedent that will likely echo in schools for years to come.

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