One of KwaZulu-Natal's top primary schools for boys has been drawn into a legal battle with its principal over allegations of misconduct.
Merchiston Preparatory School principal, Llewellyn Bragin was suspended in September last year, following sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by four teachers. He was further accused of bullying two learners.
In one instance, Bragin is accused of entering a room where a female teacher was asleep during a school camp and taking a charger from the room. The next morning, he commented on how the teachers were sleeping. He is further accused of making inappropriate comments to another teacher, and calling female staff names like "sexy" and "babe".
The KZN Department of Education (DoE) has cleared Bragin on all charges but he has been barred from returning to the school following a Pietermaritzburg High Court order. The school's governing body filed an urgent application disallowing Bragin's return, despite his reinstatement by the DoE.
Bragin has also lodged responding documents, disputing the allegations by the SGB.
He has further claimed that he was offered R800,000 to step down. However, the SGB has disputed this claim.
The claim was made by South African Democratic Teachers' Union member, Vishnu Naidoo.
News24 reported that the proposal was allegedly put forward by the SGB's attorney, Jaco van der Merwe.
However, this was denied by Van der Merwe. He pointed out that during a meeting in June last year, Bragin was told he would be paid R229,560, which equates to six months of Section 38A payments, that would be made on condition that he goes to another school.
Further arguments are due to be heard at the end of the month.
IOL News