I commend Jonathan Jansen: iLIVE

I would like to commend Jonathan Jansen on his hard hitting and incisive article on the Rivonia decision.

The Gauteng DOE has shown itself to be an incompetent and intimidatory department whose officials certainly do not have the best interests of children at heart but who toady to political influence and seemingly are prepared to ignore the South African Schools Act and the partnership it invokes between parents and provincial education bodies.

To have their stance backed in a court of a law implies that the judge cannot have applied his mind to the particular case while embarking on an unseemly and inaccurate diatribe against the role of white parents and ex Model C schools .

Strangely these are the only schools that have transformed in the South African system and truly represent the rainbow nation=and which continue to transform as can be seen by any official who bothers to visit these schools and whose only failing appears to be providing the excellent quality of education espoused by President Zuma.

Parents already have the protection of an appeal to the MEC if there are grounds for complaint about non admission to a school.

In this case as in many similar cases nationwide, parents who apparently have political clout and links to education officials, try and subvert the system with threats against principals and SGBs to get particular children admitted to schools of their choice at a time of their own choosing.

Waiting lists and school numbers mean little to these people who are simply jumping the queue and then jumping on to the political bandwagon while ignoring the rights of other children and parents, SGBs and principals.