Serious allegations against Gauteng education department targeting Pretoria High School for Girls

The chairperson of the Pretoria High School for Girls governing body has accused the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) of deliberately targeting the school and its principal.

“Ultimately, the end goal should be the learners and it definitely seems that there is an adult political agenda at play here,” SGB chair Craig Hezlett said in an interview with BizNews.

This follows an over year-long saga involving the school and the GDE, which started with several students being accused of racism and now involves charges against the principal, which struggle to hold water.

In 2024, the GDE launched an investigation into a “culture of racism” at Pretoria Girls High School following an incident where 12 pupils were accused of making racist comments on a “whites-only” WhatsApp group.

Hezlett told Biznews that after the incident was brought to their attention, the SGB and principal, Phillipa Erasmus, were instructed to take immediate action against the pupils.

This is despite the school suggesting that further investigations occur before any action is taken against the girls.

“Mrs Erasmus was threatened that if she did not charge those girls that day, she could take her stuff and leave,” he said.

“After spending the weekend seeking legal advice to help the department as they had not followed the process correctly, they told me, ‘Craig, we don’t care about the processing procedure, you will act today.’”

The twelve girls were found not guilty of the charges at their hearing, as the comments made on the group chat alleged they were subject to more stringent rules than their black classmates.

While the GDE said that it respected the outcome of the hearing by the SGB, Gauteng’s MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, launched an investigation “to determine whether a culture of racism exists,” within the school.

“This decision is further motivated by the fact that the report of the SGB’s ruling makes no mention of racism or discrimination against learners, whereas there has been a strong presumption of the existence of such at the school,” the GDE said at the time.

Chiloane appointed Charles Mdladlamba as an ‘independent’ investigator. However, PoliticsWeb reports that Mdladlamba had been working on the GDE’s panel of lawyers for roughly a decade by this point.

As a result, Erasmus and several senior staff members were suspended while Mdladlamba went about his work.

Hezlett says that the GDE stated that it will find racism in the school “whether it is tangible or not. We will find something against your school.”

Department gets involved

After 95 days, Chiloane announced that Mdladlamba had recommended that action be taken against Erasmus, the then-acting principal, deputy principal, two teachers, HR manager, estate manager and chairperson of the SGB.

However, the grounds of these recommendations remained unknown as Mdladlamba refused to release his report.

The SGB requested a copy of the report but was denied, even after filing a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

Former President Thabo Mbeki became involved in the saga, saying that “it seems for some reason that the GDE is very determined at all costs to smear the school with the charge of racism.”

Based on the report’s findings, the GDE charged Erasmus with three counts of misconduct. Mr V Phephenyani presided over her hearing.

The first was that Erasmus failed to enforce the school’s Learner Code of Conduct when first becoming aware of the group chat incident.

However, Phephenyani dismissed this because the claim had “no substance,” given that all 12 learners had been found non-guilty.

The second charge involved Erasmus not adequately overseeing the appointment of the finance manager by the SGB, contravening the school’s selection and recruitment policy.

Phephenyani found Erasmus guilty of misconduct regarding the appointment. However, Hezlett argues that the decision went through an SGB forum, which was voted on, ratified, and signed off correctly.

“There is no better way to do the process,” he added.

Volunteering to mow the lawn

Mrs Erasmus’s third charge was based on the fact that her husband, Mike, had voluntarily assisted in garden maintenance.

Phephenyani argued that Mrs Erasmus’s allowing her husband to “improperly supervise” garden staff may have created the impression of nepotism or favouritism.

Mr Erasmus told BizNews that he had helped with the upkeep of gardens at a boarding school where his wife had worked before joining Pretoria Girls.

Thus, when Mrs Erasmus, an old girl of Pretoria Girls, started working at the school in 2018 and was “disappointed with what the gardens looked like,” he offered to step in and help out, having retired by this point.

He says that Mrs Erasmnus approached the SGB about the state of the gardens and mentioned that he had helped out with landscaping at the school where she had previously worked.

“One of the SGB members approached me and said, ‘You live on the property. Would you be prepared to give us a hand? Maybe design some new stuff and just help the gardens look nice,’” he said.

“So I suggested getting rid of the gardening services, and that they should get their own employees in, whom I would be happy to train and give guidance to.”

Mr Erasmus explained that this person then took the plan to an SGB meeting, where it was approved. He adds that he was clear that he was volunteering and would not require payment.

“So they found her guilty for allowing me to manage the gardeners, which they claim are government or departmental employees,” he said.

“They are not departmental employees; they work for the SGB, and I don’t manage them. So this whole thing is full of holes.”

Mr Erasmus also noted that they found Mrs Erasmus guilty of allowing him to use a school-owned bakkie for private use.

However, he argues that he was using the bakkie to fetch supplies for the garden, which was adequately approved.

As a result of these charges, Mrs Erasmus has been suspended for three months without pay, which she is currently appealing.

The DA’s Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education Sergio Dos Santos condemned the “continued persecution of PHSG principal Philippa Erasmus,” after she was found guilty of the charges involving her husband.

“Finding a principal guilty of her husband assisting the school, without compensation, is not only absurd but also shows a department more focused on saving face than on achieving justice,” he said in late July.

Legal action

Hezlett says that the SGB has and will continue to take legal action, given the GDE’s “poor mishandling of the situation.”

“There are multiple legal implications and avenues that we have applied both from an SGB and a personal capacity perspective,” he said.

“I know that Mrs Erasmus is taking [legal action of her own], such as for defamation, that she is doing directly.”

He added that eight of the twelve learners accused of racism were involved in suing the department in 2024.

Hezlett praised Mrs Erasmus for the strength shown throughout the ordeal, saying that she is not trying to be difficult in the process.

“She could have quite easily taken the sanction and put her tail between her legs, sacrificed three months salary and moved on,” he says.

But for her its not about that. Its the principle that she has signed on to certain values and principles and she’s acting on those. She knows she’s not guilty on those two charges.”

He adds that Mrs Erasmus is not doing it for herself or potentially not even for Pretoria Girls, but for the state of education in South Africa.

“The amount of people that have reached out to her on a national level from other schools in other provinces for support, guidance, and mentorship is unbelievable,” Hezlett says.

“She keeps on saying to me, Craig, I’m doing this for the better of education in this country, I’m not trying to be difficult.”

Newsday reached out to the GDE for comment, but did not receive a response by time of publication. Comment will be added if received.