An educator from Centenary Secondary School in Sydenham who is in the transition of changing his sexuality to female (transgender) was left traumatised when he arrived to work wearing a skirt and was allegedly humiliated, and discriminated against by the school principal.
It’s alleged that the educator opened up to the school principal about his transition process and received a positive response from him. However, on the day he arrived to work wearing a skirt, the atmosphere was less accommodating as pictures of him were allegedly taken and shared with others. As a result, the educator was traumatised and sought intervention from his union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) general secretary, Nomarashiya Caluza, who then contacted the KwaZulu-Natal lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community for their intervention. Serbash Thumbadoo, the educator, said he was really hurt on the day of the incident. “After opening up to him, I did not expect him to treat me like that. He told me I will be a laughing stock and that I should not go to class and should stay in the staffroom the entire day.” The incident happened on Friday, 21 May. Thumbadoo added that he immediately left the school premises, highly embarrassed and went home. “Over the weekend, I did research on what steps to take, thereafter contacted SADTU for advice and support.”
He said he accepted the principal’s apology and things are back to normal at the school. However, he wants the incident to set an example to other leaders, managers and the entire community to respect others for who they are. On Monday, 24 May, members of SADTU led by Caluza, together with members of the LGBTQIA+ community led by Hlengiwe Buthelezi, the Provincial Recreation Organisation executive director, who chairs the advocacy for the organisation and community rights, protested inside the school premises demanding an apology from the principal for his actions. Buthelezi told The Springfield Weekly Gazette that the protest was peaceful and was welcomed by the school principal. “We had to engage with the school stakeholders which included the SGB, fellow educators and management to reach an agreement for the behaviour and ensure an incident of this nature never happens again,” said Buthelezi.
Buthelezi added that as the LGBTQIA+ community, they organised counselling for the affected educator as she was traumatised and did not take the incident well. “Homophobia is very common in the workplace and we as a community or organisation have dealt with many cases. There is a lot of victimisation and as a result, the victims become scared to open up and speak. ” The KZN Department of Education was contacted for comment and the spokesperson Sihle Mlotshwa said the department was unaware of the incident, however, they will investigate. “Generally, as a department we don’t condone any sort of discrimination, despite it being of gender, sexuality or race. When someone is employed by the department, they are not employed based on their gender orientation.”
