Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has lost his battle to force Hoërskool Overvaal‚ an Afrikaans medium school‚ to take 55 English-speaking pupils. In a unanimous judgment‚ the Constitutional Court dismissed Lesufi’s appeal bid and backed the decision made by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), says a BusinessLIVE report.

The court refused to hear the case‚ saying it had no prospect of success. It also ruled that the Education Department must pay the school’s legal fees. In January‚ Hoërskool Overvaal‚ went to court to block the department’s attempts to force it to enrol the 55 pupils. The court found in the school’s favour. Yesterday‚ the Constitutional Court said Lesufi had not given sufficient consideration to whether or not there was capacity at either the General Smuts and Phoenix high schools‚ which both offer English tuition and fall in the same feeder zone as Hoërskool Overvaal.

Lesufi had accused the school of racism, even though it had both black and white pupils. The school said at the time it could not afford to hire a handful of English teachers for the 55 pupils‚ and asked why the nearby English-medium schools could not enrol them. It added that it was too full to admit the learners.

The report notes four cases between school governing bodies or education departments have landed up at the Constitutional Court in recent times‚ as parents and authorities argue over who has the power to determine language‚ religion and admission policies. On all four occasions the courts have ordered authorities and governing bodies to work together in a ‘spirit of co operative governance’.

Full BusinessLIVE report

The department was still studying the judgment and would comment at a later stage, according to spokesperson Steve Mabona in a News24 report. However, trade union Solidarity welcomed the decision. ‘The hands of public schools, and more specifically Afrikaans public schools, have been strengthened by this court order and it enables governing bodies to apply their admission policies with confidence,’ said Solidarity deputy chief executive Johan Kruger.

Education law professor Elda de Waal, of North West University, said the judgment confirms to a certain extent that Afrikaans-medium schools are careful in drafting their admission policies and do not seek to exclude learners on a whim, Beeld reports.

‘It is concerning to me that Panyaza Lesufi’s political aspirations had an influence on the commitment I would have expected from an MEC. From what I’ve established, it was not the parents of the children who wanted to attend Overvaal who took part in protests, but rather people who were lured there with political agendas.’ Paul Colditz of the school governing body association Fedsas, welcomed the judgment. ‘It is regrettable that a case about capacity (of schools) became a language and race issue,’ he is quoted as saying.

Full News24 report

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