Security concerns have forced the Meadowlands Magistrate’s Court to transfer the case against SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) regional chairman Moss Senye to the Protea Magistrate’s Court.
Senye and a teacher at the school, Ofentse Phehle, stand accused of assaulting a 17-year-old pupil at Meadowlands High School, where Senye is the principal.
“The State applies to transfer the matter to the Protea Court. The State is concerned about security around the court for all the parties,” said State prosecutor Xolani Dube.
Senye and Phehle will appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Meadowlands Magistrate’s Court withdrew the warrants of arrest it had issued against Senye and Phehle for failing to attend court during their scheduled appearance last month.
The two had cited illness for their absence. Magistrate Molapi Kganakga issued the warrants, which he withheld pending Senye and Phehle’s appearance yesterday.
Senye and Sadtu general secretary Ronald Nyathi made headlines for allegedly assaulting non-striking teachers during last year’s lengthy teachers’ strike.