More than six years after principal Craig Nicholson told his school governing body that he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), he is still on special leave, with full pay, waiting for the Eastern Cape education department to place him.
This is despite a specialist psychiatrist having told the department shortly after it placed him on special leave that his condition was “well stabilised and would definitely not warrant any sick leave at this stage”.
“He has had an excellent response to treatment with an above-average general functioning. He has an excellent prognosis on maintenance medication,” the psychiatrist said.
Nicholson was removed from his post at the Jeffreys Bay Comprehensive High School in November 2015, barely six weeks after starting the job.
The department paid Nicholson and his temporary replacement a total of R1m for the period December 2015 to September 2017 alone.
Besides Nicholson’s disclosure about having ADHD, some of the other reasons for putting him on special leave included allegations by the governing body that pupil discipline had “deteriorated under his watch” and that the governance and management of the school was compromised.
But he was never charged by the department.
The then education MEC, Mandla Makupula, told the provincial legislature in October 2017 that five months after Nicholson was placed on special leave a clinical psychologist had recommended that he be assessed by an occupational therapist.
Makupula said Nicholson had refused to be subjected to further assessment.
In November 2018 Nicholson and the department signed an agreement in which the department undertook that he would be placed in a suitable position on or before February 15 2019 and that he would retain his existing remuneration and benefits.
His post in Jeffreys Bay was filled by another principal in June last year. Five months later the department told the legislature that it had offered Nicholson places “in available office-based and school-based vacancies, in vain”.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Nicholson denied that he had been offered such posts. He accused the department of reneging on its November 2018 undertaking and said he planned to ask the labour court later this month to make that agreement an order of court.
He said he had never been asked to return to his work station, nor informed that someone would be appointed in his place.
“My ADHD was never an impairment. Having been appointed as principal while I was still undiagnosed, and then to be removed after I was diagnosed without any justification, is nothing less than inhumane,” Nicholson said.
“I was stripped of my reputation, my dignity and ultimately my humanity by every individual that failed to listen to my plea.”
Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Mali Mtima said Nicholson’s case was being handled by the employee wellness unit and it was better not to discuss issues involving medical conditions in the media.
“The matter is receiving the urgency it deserves and by end of May there will be considerable progress.”
Professor Renata Schoeman, a psychiatrist who specialises in ADHD, said that if the condition was correctly diagnosed and managed optimally through treatment and therapy, “then there is no reason why someone cannot function at work”.
Definitely nothing in labour law states that you are unemployable with ADHD
— Psychiatrist Renata Schoeman
“Definitely nothing in labour law states that you are unemployable with ADHD.”
The CEO of the South African Council for Educators, Ella Mokgalane, said it was highly unfair to discriminate against anyone because they have ADHD. “When a child has ADHD, we don’t send them home.”
In other unrelated developments in the Eastern Cape, the head of the department of education, Naledi Mbude, was placed on suspension on full pay on April 5 after R205m allocated for the building of schools and toilets was forfeited to the National Treasury because it had not been spent.
The province has 1,598 schools that rely on “inappropriate” sanitation, including pit toilets.
And a department report dated February 23 said “displaced” staff included 32 teachers who had been chased away from their schools by community members and one who had been driven out by pupils.
It said 26 former lecturers at training colleges were also displaced.
Mtima said 19 teachers were placed on precautionary suspension between April last year and March at a cost of R4.2m.
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