Mother takes school to Equality Court and CCMA after child's suicide attempt

A REELING mother believes that the alleged interrogation of her child by staff at a southern suburbs primary school may have contributed to her 13-year-old daughter attempting suicide.

The child’s mother, who is also a former teacher at the school, was fired over the incident and is now fighting back, turning to the Equality Court and the CCMA. Meanwhile, the child has been moved to a different school.

The issue stems from allegations that the daughter had shared confidential information that her mother had been privy to. It's unclear what this information relates to.

“My daughter attempted to take her own life day after being questioned alone by the Deputy Principal without my knowledge or consent. Prior to this, there had been a serious breach of confidentiality and a failure by school management to act in her best interest."

She said after the incident in March, her daughter was at home a few weeks, diagnosed with PTSD ”still without access to the promised psychological support”.

“Adding to our distress, the principal held a meeting with staff, where she shared a letter naming my daughter - disclosing private details about the matter. I was excluded from the staff mailing list and only received the letter through a concerned colleague. Staff members who were called into that meeting later spoke openly about my daughter and one teacher even questioned another learner about whether she was comfortable playing with my child. These actions placed a harmful stigma on her, further violating her dignity and rights."

According to the mother, she had written to the School Governing Body (SGB) and lodged a complaint with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to no avail. 

“No written findings or outcomes have been given to me to this day.”

The case is now before the Equality Court, where she is seeking redress under: Section 9 (Equality), Section 10 (Dignity), and Section 28 (Best Interests of the Child) of the Constitution, as well as The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA).

The mother said she was fighting for equality, she wanted the department to train school staff in how to handle trauma and change the culture of the school for everyone to be seen as equal. 

She also sought an apology for her daughter as well as their family for what they had been put through. 

WCED spokesperson, Millicent Merton said: “The matter was first reported to the district office in late March 2025, and was investigated by the Department. The school reported that the SGB took disciplinary action against the parent, who was an SGB employee, for misconduct. The learner was questioned about a transgression, that ultimately revealed the parent's misconduct. In addressing the learner's transgression, the school took a restorative approach and provided support to the learner through a school counsellor.

“The district also offered sessions with a psychologist, although the parent reportedly cancelled two of the sessions. The district assisted, at the parent’s request, with a transfer of the learner to another school.”

The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) Western Cape confirmed they were representing the mother at the CCMA.

“The educator was charged with misconduct for breach of confidentiality...our considered view and position, is that our member was dismissed without a disciplinary hearing or the opportunity to test the evidence through cross examination of relevant witnesses. Guilty finding and outcome of dismissal (was) based on written statements and argument only. The matter is deemed further to be sub judice as NAPTOSA referred the matter to CCMA for arbitration claiming unfair dismissal. At conciliation the employer did not attend, and the matter is now awaiting set down for arbitration.”

Cape Times