A security guard at the German International School Cape Town (DSK) is alleged to have been made the scapegoat for a teacher who apparently flouted school rules when allegedly allowing a parent to bring two weapons into the premises.
This incident, which occurred during a careers day presentation, reportedly involved a parent who previously served as a special forces police officer in Berlin.
According to a source, whose name the “Cape Times” is withholding, the firearms were displayed openly, and students were allowed to handle them despite South African laws prohibiting weapons on school premises.
In terms of section 140 of the Firearms Control Act, 2000, all schools and other learning institutions, including institutions for higher education and Universities, are “firearm-free zones”.
“Instead of the German parent or the German teacher facing consequences, disciplinary action was solely directed at a security guard from Lavender Hill, a lower-income area in Cape Town.
“The guard, who was exclusively blamed and subsequently fired, became a scapegoat in a troubling display of classist discrimination. This decision not only outraged staff members but also highlighted the School Management’s apparent disregard for South African laws and safety protocols.”
Another source told the “Cape Times” that there were many questions from both teachers and parents when the incident came to light and a forum meeting was subsequently held.
“Something that came out was that he brought ammunition (rubber bullets).
They had never disclosed that before, also came out during that meeting, the kids actually held the gun, they told their parents. Then it was said he just took it out in the last five minutes of the presentation.”
The incident is said to have led to the resignation of three teachers who had been with the school for several years, allegedly in relation to the manner in which the incident was handled, a source said.
The school, meanwhile, said it had no prior knowledge of a gun, saying the teacher thought the parent who brought the weapon was going to talk about owning a guest house.
In a statement, the school said: “But instead he talked about his previous career as a Berlin special forces police officer. On arrival at security at the school gate, the parent twice informed the head security guard that he had weapons with him before entering the campus. Regardless of this, the security guard allowed the parent onto the campus. The parent is a licensed gun collector and has a licence to carry a weapon. No live ammunition was brought onto the campus. The guns shown to the children were not loaded.”
The school also said according to its investigations, the teacher did an “excellent job of looking after her students and made sure that everyone in her class felt safe”.
“The teacher had no idea that there would be weapons involved in the discussion, prior to them being taken out of the parent’s tog bag and shown to the class.
“Immediately after the class, she reported what had taken place to (Sabrina) Gellermann (principal). Gellermann phoned the parent to explain that what had taken place was unacceptable and that all schools in South Africa were gun-free zones.
“The parent apologised profusely, said that he was unaware of this law and that he had cleared it with the security guard. He also explained that he had given similar careers day displays in Germany.
The parent is a single parent. The school could therefore not ban the parent from the school premises.
“DSK informed its outsourced security company of the serious security breach by the security guard. The security guard was not employed by DSK and DSK was not involved in the disciplinary hearing that followed. DSK was later informed that the security guard was dismissed for gross negligence.”
About the resignations, the school said disciplinary action was instituted against the three teachers because of “violations of their codes of conduct”, but they had all resigned before attending the hearings.
Cape Times