Blind SA, Equal Education Law Centre take Gauteng education to court over special needs learners

Blind SA and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) are taking the Gauteng department of basic education to court over alleged human rights violations at the Filadelfia Secondary School where learners with special needs reported neglect, sexual harassment by educators and a shortage of teachers trained in braille and sign language. 

The case, which will be heard in the North Gauteng high court in Pretoria on 26 May, comes after Blind SA made its first submission in November 2022.

“The EELC and Blind SA call on government to regulate this area to ensure that there is an adequate legal framework supporting the needs and safety of learners living in special school hostels,” said Anjuli Maistry, the senior attorney at EELC. 

According to court documents seen by the Mail & Guardian, Blind SA said it received complaints from parents and learners about the violations of learners rights at Filadelfia. Their experiences included violence at the hands of caretakers, sexual harassment by teachers, dilapidated infrastructure that left blind learners vulnerable and food quality that was “not fit for human consumption”. 

Blind SA said it worked with parents and pleaded with the school to improve the conditions of the learners, adding that the Gauteng department of education failed to intervene. 

“There appears … to be no attempt by the school, its school governing body, the MEC or the minister to address these historic issues [despite all being well aware of the situation],” reads the founding affidavit submitted by the organisation in 2022. 

Learners at the school have previously protested against the alleged rights abuses.

At one protest, students held up signs that read: “Sexual abuse has become a habit in our school. Why should teachers take advantage of our background?” At another protest, learners were dispersed by security personnel using a firearm. 

“Learners should never have to spend their time fighting for their most basic rights — and when they do, their cries go unheard,” EELC and Blind SA said in their court application.

A wheelchair-bound alumni of the school recalls being given stale bread as part of the school’s nutrition plan for weeks. 

“I don’t know if they thought we were incapable of using our voices and knowing our rights but they definitely took advantage of us knowing we were could not fend for ourselves; we were basically at their mercy,” the former learner who preferred to stay anonymous told the M&G during a phone call. 

She added that learners were “ostracised” by educators because of their disabilities. She preferred not to discuss sexual offences during her time at the school, but added: “It still makes me shiver.”

BlindSA and EELC have requested an order for an independent person (a curator) from the Centre for Child Law to visit, document, and monitor conditions at the school. But Maistry said the organisations had not been able to get through to the Gauteng department of basic education, forcing them to take further legal action. 

“We are disappointed that the [department] is opposing this — if there is nothing to hide, there should be nothing to fear,” she said.

Blind SA and EELC said they had identified more than 10 special needs hostels in the country that have also violated human rights. 

In mid-2022, satellite provider DStv aired a programme about the conditions at Arthur Blaxall School for the Blind in Pietermaritzburg, which showed poor-quality food being served to learners at the hostel and allegations of their sexual abuse.

During the programme, one learner told their parents that they had been raped by another student on at least three occasions when learners were not adequately supervised. Learners who were 18 years and older were allegedly also being forced to leave the hostel and live alone in private residences, despite being blind or partially-sighted.

Blind SA wants the curators to be given the opportunity to investigate the living conditions of these learners and report to the respective courts with recommendations, “which we hope will bring positive change in the learners’ lives”, said the organisation’s president, Christo de Klerk.

The case against Arthur Blaxall School has not been placed on the court roll yet, said EELC spokesperson Jay-Dee Cyster.

In a survey conducted by the Deaf Diary, a digital publication that highlights the experiences and plight of the deaf community, learners at Setotolwane Secondary School in Limpopo said the lack of water led to clogged toilets. Several blind pupils said they sometimes accidentally put their hands into the toilets while feeling for the toilet seat, but were unable to wash their hands afterwards.

According to the Deaf Diary, the clogged toilets resulted in a stench in the boys’ bathroom area, including showers, toilets and urinals, while the floor was partly covered with urine. 

But despite “the unbearable smell, the boys still bathed in buckets and brushed their teeth with water they collected themselves”. 

When water ran out, many learners did not bathe. Girls reported that they did not attend school if they were menstruating, because they could not wash themselves.

In January, when parliament’s portfolio committee on basic education visited the Setotolwane Learners with Special Educational Needs Secondary School in Mankweng, Polokwane, they found that it required infrastructure repairs to ensure running water and user-friendly showers.

Learners with disabilities are protected by section 10 of the Constitution, which states that “everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected”. 

Maistry said: “The conditions in school hostels that many learners with disabilities face not only impugn their dignity but also exacerbates the discrimination and vulnerabilities they already encounter and live with.”

The Gauteng basic education department had not responded to queries by the M&G by the time of publication.