Mom accuses EL school of ‘discrimination’

AN EAST London woman claims she was discriminated against by a staff member at Southernwood Primary School because of her political affiliation.

The allegation came after Southernwood resident Zusakhe Javu tried to enrol her child last week.

But school principal Mike Kockott denied the allegation, saying Javu was either confused, exaggerating or simply mistaken.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Javu said she first applied to enrol her daughter in Grade R last year but was told the school was full. She tried this year for Grade 1 but was told her daughter might only be admitted to Grade R. It was then, she claimed, that a staff member approached her and asked her which political party she supported.

“A woman came to me to tell me that the reason my child doesn’t have a school is because I vote for the ANC and the ANC doesn’t build schools,” Javu said.

“She said ANC supporters are still going to suffer because our president is busy building Nkandla instead of schools. She then said if we had voted for the DA we would have a school.”

Javu could only identify the staff member as “Mrs Devon”, who she believed to be the deputy principal.

But Kockott said he did not have a deputy and there was not a staff member by that name. “About 90% of our children are black and their admission is definitely not based on which party their parents vote for.”

Kockott said the school had a space problem, with admission usually based on whether the child had a sibling already enrolled. Children living within the feeder area were also considered first.

“We get many parents who leave here in tears because we can’t take their children,” he added. —