Insults fly as couple fight principal's expulsion bid

A battle that started more than two years ago on the sports field and went all the way to the Constitutional Court still has parents and the principal of a prestigious private school at an impasse.

At the centre are two boys who, amid the legal battles and name-calling, still attend Pridwin Preparatory School - unless the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein says otherwise.

In one corner are a Johannesburg chartered accountant and his psychiatrist wife, who have been described as "viciously unpleasant and unco-operative parents". They have an 11-year-old son in Grade 6 and a seven-year-old in Grade 2.

In the opposite corner is headmaster Selwyn Marx, who in turn has been labelled a "narcissist" and a "sociopath". 

The parents have been embroiled in a protracted legal battle with the school, in Melrose, Johannesburg, since Marx cancelled the parents' contracts in June 2016, effectively expelling the children, because of the father's alleged offensive behaviour on the sports field.

The parents went to the High Court in Johannesburg, where Judge Lebogang Modiba granted an interim order in December 2016 allowing the children to remain at the school pending the outcome of the application to set aside the cancellation of the contracts. He said the parents "must continue to fulfil their obligations towards Pridwin".

In July, Acting Judge Clare Hartford dismissed the parents' application, but later granted them leave to appeal. Bypassing the SCA, the parents applied to the Constitutional Court for direct leave to appeal against Hartford's ruling.

The Constitutional Court dismissed the application, stating: "[The court] has concluded that the application for leave to appeal should be dismissed as it is not in the interests of justice to hear it at this stage."

A hearing in the SCA has now been set down for September 12.

A comment by Marx in a school newsletter in October, in which he implied that there are no problem children, only problem parents, did not help ease tensions.

The mother responded in an e-mail: "What I find interesting in the talk [a presentation she had attended] was that narcissists and sociopaths are not lacking in empathy ... It is sympathy that these types are incapable of.

"PS. I look forward to this e-mail appearing in the next court documents."

The situation worsened in January, when there was a heated altercation between the father and Marx at the school, prompting Marx to head to the High Court in Johannesburg. On January 30, Judge David Unterhalter granted an interim order barring the parents from the school or any premises where pupils were involved in sports or other activities unless they were granted permission by Marx.

The parents consented to the order.

Unterhalter postponed the matter for a hearing, which was heard by Judge Willem van der Linde in February. During that hearing, Marx asked that the parents be declared in contempt of court because their rude behaviour had violated Modiba's December 2016 ruling that they should act in accordance with the school's parents' contract.

In court papers, Marx said: "[The mother] is entirely unco-operative with me and the school."

He said he had "never had to deal with such viciously unpleasant and unco-operative parents in all my years as a head".

In his answering affidavit, the father said: "Mr Marx has a negative attitude towards our family. He does not want us in HIS school."

He said Marx was aggressive. "He stated that I am sick, a madman. He said I am 'dirt'.

"My wife's conduct at all times has been to foster co-operation with the school."

He said they would prefer reconciliation and rehabilitation with Marx in particular, "for the sake of our sons' education".

In the same filing, the wife labelled Marx's remark as "an untimely, insensitive and a provocative dig at problem parents".

Van der Linde issued an order interdicting the parents from acting in breach of the parents' contract and "from specifically failing to maintain a courteous and constructive relationship with the principal".

He said the mother calling the principal a narcissist and sociopath was "markedly over-reactive" to the newsletter, and that it was "beyond reasonable question that [the father] was the aggressor".

Based on the judgment, Marx terminated the contracts for the second time.

The parents' legal representative, Errol Knowles, confirmed the parents were contesting the cancellation, which was now the subject of arbitration proceedings. "The boys will remain at school until directed to leave by the necessary authority or court."

He said an application for leave to appeal against the Van der Linde judgment had been made and they were awaiting a date for the hearing.