We, the school community and the wider concerned community, support Mrs Phillipa Erasmus in her appeal to clear her name of all charges made against her by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and affirm our support for her continued role as the principal of Pretoria High School for Girls (PHSG).

Since the beginning of her leadership of the school in 2018, Mrs Erasmus has used her qualifications, her exceptional leadership skills and her many years of experience in education to build on the strengths of the school as a centre of excellence in all spheres of school life, including a wide range of academics, sports and cultural activities. Under her leadership, PHSG provides a caring and inclusive learning and teaching environment for the learners and the staff. In many ways, PHSG has been a leading example of a government school that has developed its learners and teachers according to best practice in South African education. 

Mrs Erasmus is president of the South African Girls' Schools Association, a Governing Body Foundation Board elected trustee and president of the school’s Old Girls’ Association. She lives, eats, sleeps and breathes PHSG. Many a night her office lights are on, deadlines are always met, emails attended to, meetings chaired, and solutions sought. She is a trusted and respected member of the school community, firm but fair with the learners, calm and caring and engaging with everyone she meets.

On 30 July 2024 the Pretoria High School for Girls’ principal and Deputy Principal  were suspended by the Gauteng’s MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, while an investigation was launched into alleged racism emanating from a WhatsApp group of twelve white learners, an exercise which dragged on for 98 days through Terms 3 and 4, impacting on critical times in the school calendar for teachers and learners. On 5 November 2024, Mrs Erasmus was allowed to return to her duties. 

In November 2024, the MEC announced the outcome of the investigation. Disciplinary action was to be instituted against the principal, acting principal, deputy principal, two teachers, the HR manager, the estate manager, and the chairman of the school governing body.

Mrs Erasmus was cleared by the Department for allegedly not dealing with racism and all members of the WhatsApp group were cleared of all allegations of alleged racism. Dissatisfied with this outcome, the GDE accused Mrs Erasmus on two technical counts that had nothing to do  with the original investigation of a culture of racism.

Firstly, she was accused of not following protocol in filling the post of Financial Officer at the school. To be clear, the post is a School Governing Body (SGB) position, not a GDE post. The SGB made the decision to appoint the  staff member who had been acting, in this position. This was after three people, in very short succession, had briefly held the post. This appointment has not jeopardised the finances of the school in any way. On the contrary, the school received a clean financial audit.  

Secondly, she was accused of allowing her husband, Mike Erasmus, to work in the school gardens in a voluntary capacity without renumeration. We note that Mr Erasmus has been tending to the gardens alongside the employed garden staff, without jeopardising their jobs in any way. We applaud Mr Erasmus for lending a helping hand, and thank him for inspiring us to volunteer our time to help out at the school in as many ways as we can. 

The sanction handed down for these transgressions is a 3-month suspension without pay, which will cause undeserved and unnecessary stress and anxiety, disrupt the management of the school, place pressure on the deputies, lead to uncertainty amongst the staff, and negatively impact the learning and teaching programme. 

We commend Mrs Phillipa Erasmus for her courageous decision to appeal the sanction, and we stand with her in seeking a fair and just resolution. We call for her continued leadership at PHSG without prejudice and free from any undue pressure.