Frustrated Parents Demand Action From KZN Education Department Over Westville Senior Primary Issues

Parents of learners at Westville Senior Primary School have accused the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (DoE) of failing to follow through on promises to investigate longstanding allegations of misconduct against the school’s principal.

In a strongly worded statement, parents said they were “deeply disappointed and frustrated” by what they described as the department’s “troubling lack of capacity and inability to conduct timely, thorough, and transparent investigations.”

Allegations Against the Principal

Concerns about the principal date back to 2023, with more than 50 unresolved complaints ranging from:

• financial mismanagement,

• procedural misconduct, and

• the unilateral scrapping of isiZulu as a first additional language.

The principal was suspended in August 2024 pending investigations but later reinstated after a departmental review.

Missed Deadlines and Broken Promises

Parents said that during a 28 May 2025 meeting, chaired by DoE official Mrs TA Gumede, a commitment was made to complete all investigations and deliver full reports to the School Governing Body (SGB) by 12 June 2025.

However, no reports were submitted by the deadline. When the DoE convened another meeting with the SGB on 14 August 2025, parents said officials again failed to present findings.

“The entire panel arrived empty-handed, without a single completed report, rendering the meeting ineffective,” the parents’ statement read.

They further accused the department of being dismissive, breaching confidentiality, and only prioritising complaints lodged by state-employed teachers while ignoring those submitted by SGB-appointed staff.

Parents Consider Legal Action

KZN Education Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said the department had written to the SGB with “a new management plan” and proposed dates to meet parents this month.

But parents say confidence in the department has collapsed.

“Parents, community, and educators have lost all confidence in the DoE’s ability or willingness to do their jobs acting in the best interests of the school community,” the statement concluded, adding that legal action is now under consideration.

{Source: IOL}

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