Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) arbitrator, has upheld the dismissal of a long-serving Western Cape teacher who was found guilty of assaulting a pupil, reinforcing the country’s longstanding prohibition on corporal punishment in schools.
Timeslive news further reported that, in an award issued on February 25, arbitrator Firgil Philips, ruled that the dismissal of Anthony Lionel Damons by the Western Cape education department was both substantively and procedurally fair.
According to TimesLive, Damons began teaching in 1992 and was promoted to departmental head at De Rust Primary School in 2015.
He was dismissed in July 2019 after being found guilty of assaulting a Grade 7 pupil by striking him with a pipe on 28 November 2018, during an examination session.
In an arbitration award issued on 28 June 2021, arbitrator Alta Reynolds held that Damon’s dismissal was substantively unfair.
According to TimesLive, the department took the matter under review to the labour court, attacking the arbitration award on various grounds.
Timeslive revealed that the Labour Court upheld the review application in an order issued on 26 September 2024.
The labour court ordered that the matter be remitted back to the ELRC to another arbitrator.
According to TimesLive, the arbitrator emphasised that any physical punishment, even a so-called tap, constituted assault.“Assault remains assault by any other name,” Philips wrote in his analysis.
They added that Damons stood by the word that he merely tapped the pupil on the shoulder to calm him down.
However, the arbitrator found that even on Damons’ own version, he had no right to touch a pupil in that manner.
According to TimesLive, the evidence presented during arbitration revealed that pipes were kept in the classroom, ostensibly confiscated from pupils and used for pointing at the board.
Witnesses testified that the pipe was used to push or strike the pupil following a verbal altercation.
The arbitration award looked at Damons’ prior disciplinary record.
He had received final written warnings and fines for previous assaults on pupils in 2016 and again in November 2018, just weeks before the incident that led to his dismissal.
Timeslive revealed that the arbitrator found that the proximity of the incidents demonstrated a pattern of behaviour and a disregard for the department’s rules.
The earlier sanctions had failed to deter further misconduct.
According to TimesLive, Damons had argued that his dismissal was procedurally unfair because the charge sheet had been amended during the disciplinary process, changing the allegation from striking the pupil’s hand to striking his shoulder.
According to TimesLive, the arbitrator dismissed this argument, finding that the amendment did not alter the substance of the charge.
Sub-Editor : Matlala Kgaugelo
