A top boys’ school is battling to suspend its principal who allegedly sexually harassed women staff, improperly hired his own wife, became drunk on school tours, and told parents at a quiz night that it was “no wonder your boys are so f***ing stupid — you parents can’t even answer the questions”.
The school governing body (SGB) of Merchiston Preparatory School in Pietermaritzburg — founded in 1892 — went to court to try to get the KwaZulu-Natal education department to suspend principal Llewellyn Bragin pending an investigation into his conduct.
However, the department suspended his deputy, Eric White, for reasons it refused to divulge, in a move the SGB said was “contemptible and inconsistent”.
Bragin, meanwhile, denies the allegations and the “vicious attack on my character and credibility”, and in court papers accuses White of wanting his job and conspiring with the SGB to oust him.
Attached to the affidavit by Merchiston’s SGB chair Warren Smith are allegations that Bragin also verbally abused staff while he was deputy principal at Johannesburg’s King Edward VII Preparatory School (Keps). One woman teacher said he moved to have her retrenched after she complained and a former Keps pupil told the Sunday Times that Bragin had assaulted him.
Despite this, Bragin was employed at Merchiston primary school in February last year. Since then, the court papers allege that:
He sneaked into a room occupied by female staff while they were sleeping and made comments on the way they were sleeping, namely ‘you were spread out like a star fish’
— SGB court papers
- While on a school tour, he sneaked into a room occupied by female staff while they were sleeping and made comments “on the way they were sleeping, namely ‘you were spread out like a star fish’”;
- Approached a staff member in her office, saying she was a beautiful woman, that he had a crush on her and couldn’t be trusted to be left in a room alone with her. “He said I must please not tell anyone, especially his wife”;
- Addressed women staffers as “lovey”, “love”, “sweetie”, “queenie” or “babe” while insisting that they address him as “Mr Bragin”;
- Screamed at and belittled staff, told some to “f*** off” out of his office after a dressing down, and threw a file at one of the teachers;
- Assaulted an 8-year-old boy and told a 9-year-old pupil that he would call the police to arrest him and he would never see his mother again;
- Drank heavily at school events and on school trips;
- Asked staff during a school camp if another teacher “was a virgin, and if he is a bit retarded”;
- Told staff that his wife had been appointed as alumni liaison “after a full interview process and that she was the preferred candidate. It has since emerged that this was not the case… and no interview process had taken place”; and
- When his wife learnt of a rumoured affair between Bragin and a woman staff member, she harassed the woman and sent her threatening WhatsApp messages, after which Bragin applied for two weeks “wellness leave”.
Attached to the SGB’s 200-page court application are copies of staff complaints addressed to the SGB's lawyers. The affidavit further states that the teachers also laid complaints against Bragin with the South African Council of Educators (Sace).
In responding papers, Bragin says: “I categorically deny all allegations/complaints of victimisation, intimidation, outbursts of anger and sexual harassment that have been made against me. Although the allegations and complaints are numerous, I submit that they are baseless, untrue and/or an exaggeration of the true nature of events, where if the true nature was examined, my conduct would not be classified as misconduct.
“I am strongly of the view that this vicious attack on my character and credibility is an attempt to have me removed as principal… by White [who] was the acting principal for approximately four years prior to my appointment.”
The governing body took the case to the high court in Pietermaritzburg on an urgent basis in June, but the court ruled the matter was not urgent. The department started its investigation into Bragin’s conduct this week.
When the SGB stopped Bragin’s R38,000 monthly payment, which he earned in addition to his state headmaster’s salary, he successfully approached the labour court to have it reinstated.
Meanwhile, a former Keps pupil told the Sunday Times that he was assaulted by Bragin in his office and severely traumatised. His father said his son disappeared from home that day and was later found by a teacher wandering the streets alone at night.
“When you get a phone call from the school psychologist saying that your son is talking about suicide, you don’t take it lightly. That was a wake-up call for me that I need to reach out to the department for help,” he said.
The father said the department replied that the matter had been sent to the SGB for action, and the SGB told him action had been taken but would not elaborate.
Former Keps administrator Sam Thorne, who submitted an affidavit in Merchiston's application, was retrenched in 2019 after exposing Bragin’s alleged conduct. She later reached a settlement with the school at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration.
Complaints related to ‘the way in which he spoke to learners and staff members, the fact that he made decisions with no regard for the consequences to anyone else, his questionable morals and ethics, that he exhibits sexist behaviour, that he is volatile and mean ...’
— SGB court papers
In an initial report to the Gauteng education department in 2019, she listed several allegations including abuse of authority, discrimination, financial misconduct, inappropriate physical contact and comments towards female employees, and use of alcohol and cigarettes on school property.
“Since his appointment approximately 11 educators have resigned and had to be replaced. Three employees in the sports department also resigned in the same period. The majority of these resignations appear to have been a direct result of the treatment the employees received from Mr Bragin.”
In an e-mail in June last year to then Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi, Thorne complained about how she was treated as a whistleblower and said: “All the people I stood up for have been reinstated to their former positions, therefore I do not regret any word, e-mail, conversation or report that I have uttered or submitted knowing that it would not end well for me.”
Bragin declined to comment to the Sunday Times, saying he was not permitted to do so. However, he denied allegations of wrongdoing at his previous job, saying “any reference to Keps is false”.
Back at Merchiston, while Bragin was on “wellness leave” in May complaints from staff came rolling in. Bragin charges that the complaints were orchestrated by White as “some of them even followed the same format”.
In court papers the SGB says the complaints related to “the way in which he spoke to learners and staff members, the fact that he made decisions with no regard for the consequences to anyone else, his questionable morals and ethics, that he exhibits sexist behaviour, that he is volatile and mean, that he sexually harassed more than one female staff member [and] that he verbally abused several staff members”.
Other complaints included that Merchiston was losing quality staff as a result of his attitude and behaviour, “that he abused his power, that he made comments to staff members along the lines of ‘wow, you look f***ing hot’, ‘if you were mine I would never let you go’, ‘you look so sexy when you are angry’, his inappropriate behaviour on school trips including excessive drinking, continuous smoking in front of learners, verbal abuse towards staff members, screaming at staff members, throwing files at staff members, emotional blackmail and badmouthing staff members behind their backs, and manipulation of staff members”.
In his affidavit, Smith says school circuit head Dudu Dlamini met the teachers and “requested that [Bragin] not intimidate any of the staff”, but he continued to do so.
KwaZulu-Natal education department spokesperson Muzi Mhlambi failed to respond to questions, saying only the department noted developments in the case “with interest”. The Sace also failed to respond.
Keps principal Dave Ernstzen confirmed Bragin worked at the school “from September 2017 until December 2021” when he “resigned to move to Pietermaritzburg”. He also confirmed Thorne was retrenched.
“Beyond these confirmations, Keps denies any wrongdoing on its part whatsoever and cannot comment any further in the media,” he said. “Mrs S Molobi, the district director, confirms receipt of your request to the department office.”
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