THE Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDE) has defended its decision to withdraw the intention to deregister Bergview College, saying the about-turn was informed by the heavy financial burden parents would have to carry.

The school in Matatiele has been thrust into the national spotlight over how it handled the rape of a 7-year-old girl in October last year. The situation is said to have been exacerbated by the school principal’s failure to assist the police in their investigation - an allegation his legal representatives from Afriforum have denied.

The incident has sparked public outcry with thousands of people across the country marching under the banner #JusticeForCwecwe.

The incident led to Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade last week issuing the independent school with a notice to close - a decision the institution at the time said it would challenge in court.

In a notice, the department confirmed it would no longer proceed to shut the school down, but instead allow the police to deal with the matter.

Gade’s spokesperson, Vuyiseka Mboxela on Wednesday said: “After a consultation with the justice system of the country and after we’ve been informed there’s a multidisciplinary team that has been dispatched from national to the Eastern Cape to look into the issue of the widely publicised sexual assault of a little girl in Matatiele at a school called Bergview, the EC department was convinced the matter is receiving the attention it deserves and we then took a decision as a department to rescind the decision to close the school.

“The rationale behind that is on the knowledge that if we were to continue closing the school, close to 600 learners were to be dislodged and they were to be a financial burden to parents and therefore we have confidence the SAPS will hold the matter until its own logical conclusion. The school is then given its own status to operate as it was before the incident.”

The department further said the MEC and his team held numerous consultations with various stakeholders including government departments and other relevant organs of state.

“The Ministries of Police, Social Development, Justice, Education and all law enforcement entities have since been seized with the case. The Police Ministry deployed its best human and technical resources from the National Office through its Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (SAPS FCS) to ensure they leave no stone unturned in investigating the matter. Equally, the Justice Ministry is in the process of vetting all staff members at Bergview College while the Social Development MEC visited the family and her department continued to provide psycho-social support services to the family and the child.

“The Department of Education is now reliant on the Joint Justice Cluster to pursue further investigations on the criminal component of the case. It is within this context that the MEC of Education has now waived the temporary revocation of the licence as the school cannot be closed in perpetuity. The school is however still expected and obligated to ensure a safe and habitable environment for teaching and learning,” ECDE said.

Approached for comment on whether Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Investigations (FCS) unit head Major General Mmantsheke Lekhele had met with persons of interest yet and if the principal was still viewed as a suspect, national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe would only say: “We don’t name suspects before they are charged and appeared in court. The investigation is still ongoing with Major Gen Lekhele. We all want justice for the little girl and we will surely get to the bottom of this case.”

Bergview College did not respond to further requests for comment on the matter by deadline.

Social service organisation, Ilitha Labantu called for stricter enforcement of child protection laws, harsher penalties for perpetrators of sexual violence, and dedicated gender-based violence courts that expedite cases involving children.

Cape Times