The Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) attempt to have ex-principal Wesley Neumann’s review application struck from the court roll has failed.
This is after Labour Court Judge Robert Lagrange dismissed the department's application on Tuesday. The Heathfield High School former headmaster filed a review application in the court in July 2023 in a bid to overturn a dismissal ruling by the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC).
He has been fighting to be reinstated to his position since he was fired in 2022 following charges of defying an instruction to open his school during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Mr Neumann does articulate specific issues which he claims the arbitrator failed to consider as grounds of review. Whether he has made out a cogent case in law for review and can support his claim with specific references to the record, is a matter for the court hearing the review application.
“The application to dismiss the review application is dismissed and the review application of the arbitration award dated June 19, 2023 issued under case number ELRC147-22/23 is reinstated. The application to set aside the supplementary affidavit of the applicants in the review application is dismissed.
The Registrar must enrol the review application on the opposed motion roll before another judge. No order is made as to costs,” said Judge Lagrange.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department will respect the court’s decision and will proceed with preparation for the hearing of the review application in the Labour Court.
“Wesley Neumann has chosen to pursue this matter further despite the ELRC finding him guilty on five charges stating that ‘there was not an iota of evidence presented by the applicant to support that he was unfairly targeted’ and that further, ‘the sanction of dismissal was appropriate’.
The court ultimately agreed with the department that Mr Neumann failed to adhere to the prescribed timelines for filing the requisite record and his supplementary papers, however they have confirmed that he can still proceed with the application,” said Hammond.
The Special Action Committee (SAC) said it firmly maintained that the matter brought against Neumann was politically motivated.
“The judgment is instructive, shedding light on the WCED’s unreasonable and vindictive posture in dealing with Mr Neumann’s matter. The judgment, while stopping just short of labelling the department’s actions as vindictive and abuse of processes, clearly indicates the committee’s view on the matter.”
Neumann’s supporters believed Heathfield High school’s matric pass rate took a hard knock, dropping by almost 20% in the process because of his removal.
When he was at the helm, the school achieved an 84% matric pass rate which, according to parents, had been the best in several years. In 2021 the school achieved a 76% pass rate, in 2022 a 61% pass rate and in 2023 a 50% pass rate.
Cape Times