Eastern Cape schools are prepared to go to court to fight the education department’s ban on the sale of alcohol on school premises, but education MEC Fundile Gade is unmoved and has accused the schools of “lacking morals”.
Gade dared the schools to take him to court, saying no school would get a liquor licence during his tenure.
He was speaking at a media briefing on the department’s first quarter performance at the Mandla Makupula Institute in Stirling, East London, on Thursday.
Eastern Cape schools have teamed up to fight the ban, saying they have suffered heavy financial losses and that their fundraising initiatives have been hampered. Now they have sought legal help.
BLC Attorneys director Guy Dakin, representing 10 unnamed schools from across the province, lodged a dispute against education department HOD Sharon Maasdorp and Gade on April 30.
But Gade said: “They petition from afar, they must come to me ... they want to legalise the illegal process ... In this conservative society we have in SA that is predominantly Christian, you want to bring alcohol into our schools?
“Both from a moral point of view and from a legal point of view, that is wrong.
“If you go to court, you’ll find us ready.
“Their argument is that they do fundraising. Morally, you are putting a price on the kids. ...You may not see a problem from a moral point of view, but I see a problem.”
In February, a circular from Maasdorp said though Gade was empowered to consider applications to allow any person to conduct any business on school property to supplement school funds, this would not include the sale of alcohol.
Maasdorp ordered all schools holding permanent liquor licences not to renew them or seek their immediate cancellation because no consent had been provided in terms of the SA Schools Act.
Section 36 (4)(a) of the Act states that SGBs may use school property to supplement school funds or allow business to be conducted on school property to supplement funds.
Another attorney, Eddie Scheun of Eddie Scheun Incorporated, sent a letter of demand to the department on April 7, asking it to revoke the circular.
Scheun was acting on behalf of the SGB of a former model C quintile 5 school in East London.
He wrote: “It is unfortunate, and even embarrassing, that those who advised the honourable MEC and the HOD referred to and quoted the ‘old’ Section 36, and not the amended Section 36.5.
“My clients believe that the blanket decision to declare all schools in the province as alcohol-free zones is ultra vires, as no legislation or regulations permit the MEC or HOD to make such a decision.
“It is also irrational as it is not supported by any evidence (there is no evidence of any incidents where learners use or abuse liquor at sanctioned school events — it happens in public places after such events). It is unconstitutional as [the decision] was not taken in an open and transparent way.”
Scheun told the Dispatch education officials had referred them to the circular which indicated the department would go ahead with the ban.
Gade said he had not authorised the liquor licences and did not intend to do so.
“If you talk of extramural activities for funding purposes, that power resides with the MEC.
“If you have an intention of fundraising via liquor outlets, you must get the nod from HOD.
“If not, then you appeal to the MEC, and if I say ‘no’, then it’s no. It’s not in between. I have not signed any agreement for alcohol.
“Those schools that have been doing that since I arrived in office have been doing it by default, and it is against the law.
“Whether it is school holidays or school days, the regulation is clear on the sale of liquor in educational institutions and no deviation from these regulations will be approved ... to ensure the safety and protection of the learners.”
On April 30, Dakin gave the department seven days to nominate a legal representative to discuss the dispute, followed by another seven days to allow them to resolve it.
He said on Thursday that the department had acknowledged their complaint and they were awaiting a response from a department representative.
They hoped a dialogue would inform the department of the implications of Gade’s decision.
“I think the MEC is a bit misinformed about this, and it is far beyond alcohol.
“We can sit down and put our points of view across to one another. And I’m hoping we can have a positive outcome, because this isn’t the right thing to do.
“Afterwards, it means that if it can’t be resolved and it becomes an issue, then the only way... is you get a judge involved and then that becomes another story.
“Then it’s lawyers and judges and more advocates, you know? But definitely that’s where it could end up.
“The governing bodies have to use school premises to raise funds. Remember, some of the schools in this province own their properties, they own the buildings.
“So they don’t get any support from the government, from public works, to fix their roofs and their properties and their buildings.”
Daily Dispatch
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