The Department of Education has suspended Ziphembeleni Secondary whistle blower Scelo Bhengu.
DURBAN - THE Department of Education has suspended a Ziphembeleni Secondary School teacher and whistle-blower with immediate effect for allegedly “bringing the department into disrepute”.
Scelo Bhengu, also president of the Educators Union of South Africa, was served the suspension letter on Tuesday when he reported for duty at the school. Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi confirmed the suspension.
Bhengu, who alleged that Ziphembeleni pupils had been served rotten food with maggots, has vowed that he would return to school.
“I’ll come back. I’ll prove my case. They cannot shut me up. The department has suspended me with the aim of covering up its own shortcomings.
“The issue of food at Ziphembeleni will not be sorted out just because I have been suspended. It is going to continue just like it had, unless it is tackled.
“The truth will come out eventually. I was suspended for speaking out about the violation of the poor children who rely on the food served at school,” he said.
The suspension comes after Bhengu recently went public with a video where pupils allegedly from the school spoke of incidents where they had found maggots in their food – amasi and beans curry.
The pupils claimed they had reported the incident and had shown teachers and the principal on three occasions that they had found maggots in their food.
One of them in the video said they were allegedly threatened that “police with big guns will come for them” if they ever spoke about this to anyone.
The department had since April conducted two investigations. Both found nothing wrong with the food, despite the videos of the food with maggots being circulated on social media. One of the videos allegedly taken from the school kitchen where the cooking staff were preparing the food, showed a 5kg bag of samp with live insects in it.
On Monday, the department issued a statement, rejecting the allegations following yet another investigation. Mahlambi said the investigation found Bhengu was “an untrustworthy whistle-blower”.
Bhengu was dismissed last year for misconduct but reinstated at the school after three months. Bhengu said the department could not provide evidence to support its claim of misconduct. In Tuesday’s suspension letter, the department said Bhengu misrepresented information and communicated such in the media against department policy. It is also alleged that he threatened a pupil, and interfered with witnesses who were interviewed as part of the investigation.
“In view of the seriousness of the allegations, it is not considered to be in the best interest of the department for you to remain at Ziphembeleni Secondary School.
“You are therefore advised that you’re suspended from duty pending the outcome of the investigation,” read the letter.
The suspension was effective immediately and for about six months, until the investigation was completed.
Sources claimed that the rotten food was removed from the school strong room ahead of the department’s investigative team’s arrival.
Bhengu had questioned the credibility of the investigation, claiming the investigators were not given the batch of rotten food to inspect.
Daily News
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