The court ruled Barkhuizen may return to the school tomorrow, after finding her suspension was unlawful on the grounds that due process had not been followed. A key aspect of the challenge was that she is employed by the school governing body, and not the department of education which therefore was not in a position to suspend her.
Solidarity, the trade union that represented Barkhuizen, said: "We will have discussions with the governing body this afternoon about when she will be back at work."
The case was swiftly dealt with by the labour court on Thursday.
Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann said the provincial education MEC had initially indicated that government would oppose the case, but withdrew on Wednesday evening.
The North West education department are not commenting at this stage. “We only got the information from you (the media),” spokesman Freddy Sepeng said.
The Democratic Alliance’s North West premier candidate Joe McGluwa said in a statement: “It has been a painful and difficult two weeks for all parties involved, most especially for the children affected, who have had to endure such trauma, and for Elana Barkhuizen.”