Judge Joseph Raulinga has done what most provincial education departments failed to do - stopped teachers from attending memorial services during school hours.
When the fearless high court judge is not on the bench in Pretoria, he chairs the National Education Collaboration Trust's district steering committee for Vhembe in Limpopo.
Headed by CEO Godwin Khosa, the trust is dedicated to strengthening partnerships between civil society and the government to achieve the National Development Plan goals for basic education.
Its patrons include President Cyril Ramaphosa, former Business Leadership South Africa chairman Bobby Godsell, former National Union of Mineworkers president James Motlatsi and former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Raulinga and members of his steering committee spoke to teachers about the importance of education and "what it means to disrupt school for just two hours".
He said: "We reached an agreement, a give-and-take, and we told them: 'What if we do these memorial services after school?' And they agreed."
The trust's eight district steering committees around the country - which include traditional and religious leaders and representatives of governing bodies and teacher unions - promote education as a societal issue and encourage active citizenry in communities.
Raulinga said he had visited a school where pupils were very rowdy and were being influenced by community members.
"We assembled teachers and spoke to them and then went to traditional leaders because normally that is the route you go. We told them about the importance of education, and once that was done, we turned that school around."..