Education experts hail DF Malan ruling as victory for school
The SCA dismissed an appeal by four parents who challenged the school governing body's authority to rename DF Malan High School.
Education experts are celebrating the Supreme Court of Appeal's landmark ruling in the DF Malan High School case, describing it as a decisive victory that strengthens school governing bodies' authority to shed apartheid-era symbols and transform their institutional identities.
The judgment, passed down on 4 June, which dismissed an appeal seeking to prevent the school from changing its name to DF Akademie, has been praised by education specialists as a precedent-setting decision that empowers school communities while establishing clear guidelines for institutional transformation.
'The judgement strengthens the school governing bodies to have the autonomy they need to make decisions about renaming schools, as long as they follow a fair and consultative process. This ruling sets a precedent for other schools,' said education expert Hendricks Makatena.
Rautenbach & Others v The Governing Body of die Hoërskool DF Malan & Another (073/2024) [2025] ZASCA 78 (4 June 2025)
Today the Supreme Court of Appeal (the SCA) handed down judgment, dismissing an appeal against an order granted in the Western Cape Division of the High Court. pic.twitter.com/E8nuqkVuBT — Supreme Court of Appeal ZA (@SCA_ZA) June 4, 2025
Experts see broader implications for school governance
Professor Brahm Fleisch, another education expert, emphasised the judgment's significance in reinforcing democratic school governance at a time when there are concerns about legislative changes undermining governing body roles.
'I think that in many respects, it's an important judgement because it says that communities have a very significant say in shaping their own institutions, the values and the vision of the institution,' Fleisch said.
'I think this judgment essentially reminds us that South Africa continues to have a very significant piece of legislation which grants real decision-making power to school governing bodies,' he added.
Makatena noted that the Supreme Court's interpretation reveals greater autonomy than previously understood.
'SCA's interpretation of the Schools Act's provisions on governance suggests that school governing bodies have more autonomy than previously thought. The court's ruling that the governing body has the implied power to change the school's name empowers schools to take ownership of their decisions.'
ALSO READ: Hoërskool DF Malan wants a new, more inclusive name
Fleisch highlighted how the court's reliance on constitutional principles strengthened the foundation of the judgment.
The expert emphasised that the decision aligns with constitutional values of human dignity, equality, and freedom, making it consistent with the principle of 'an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality, and freedom'.
Process creates template for future cases
Education specialists see the ruling as establishing a clear roadmap for other schools considering similar transformations.
Fleisch explained that 'the judgement officially created a process and logic of reasoning should this issue occur in any other school… basically what the judgement does is it provides the rationale, and the overall logic that would need to be followed if another school wanted to change its name.'
Makatena predicted the judgment will influence how institutions approach change: 'The judgement may influence schools to approach renaming or revising symbols with caution, ensuring that they engage in comprehensive consultation processes and consider the impact on their communities. Schools may prioritise contextual understanding and stakeholder engagement when making decisions about their names and symbols.'
ALSO READ: 'Using k-word is illegal': Northern Cape teacher fired for racist outburst loses reinstatement battle
External facilitation model endorsed
The experts praised the use of independent facilitation in the DF Malan case, with Makatena noting that 'usually, external facilitators bring knowledge and skills to manage complex decision-making processes.'
He added that 'bringing in an external facilitator particularly facilitated that trusted by all parties is often away which potential disagreement can get resolved amicably.'
This approach, overseen by experienced mediator Di Jan Frederick Marais, included group discussions focused on the school's identity and core values, leading to the May 2021 decision that the original name conflicted with the school's Christian ethos and inclusivity policy.
Procedural fairness standards clarified
Addressing concerns about consultation processes, Makatena emphasised that 'the court's finding confirms that schools should prioritise transparency and fairness when making decisions that affect their communities.'
The Supreme Court found that minimum requirements under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act were met through detailed stakeholder invitations, unbiased facilitation, and broad community engagement.
The court's acceptance of the 'saturation point' approach, where consultation ended when no new perspectives emerged, provides guidance for future processes while ensuring comprehensive community input.
Message to educational institutions
Education experts believe the ruling sends a powerful message about institutional reflection and transformation.
'This judgement sends a message to schools and educators about the importance of reflecting on their institutional identities and values,' Makatena observed.
Fleisch described the name change as representing a careful balance between preservation and modernisation: 'The decision about the school name is an attempt on the part of the school governing body to preserve the legacy of the school and the memory and the communities reputation of school.
'The school was trying very hard to find a mechanism of preserving the community and belief and commitment to the school, but also to modernise the school name in a way that addresses some of the most egregious parts of the historical name of the school.'
ALSO READ: Education department clears the air on school calendar 'changes'
Impact on decolonisation discourse
The experts see the judgment as contributing positively to broader educational transformation efforts.
'The judgement contributes positively to the discourse about decolonisation,' Makatena concluded, while Fleisch noted that the decision reinforces the importance of schools being 'mindful of the context and changing context within school.'
DF Malan school case background
The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by four parents who challenged the school governing body's authority to rename DF Malan High School, which had borne the name of the apartheid architect since its establishment in 1954.
The court found that governing bodies possess implied power under the South African Schools Act to rename schools, and that the consultative process met all procedural requirements.
The ruling, delivered with costs including expenses for two counsel, establishes that school communities have the democratic authority to transform their institutional identities while following fair and comprehensive consultation processes.
READ NEXT: Department scrambles to fix curriculum chaos at Gauteng school after delayed start
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
eNCA
3 hours ago
- eNCA
SCA to rule in Nulane Investments case
BLOEMFONTEIN - The Supreme Court of Appeal is set to rule on the NPA's bid to overturn the acquittal of Nulane Investments fraud accused. The suspects were arrested for fraud and money laundering amounting to R25-million. The State is pushing for a retrial of Gupta associates and senior Free State officials. The first State Capture trial ended in the accused walking free. At the heart of the matter are government payments to Nulane for a feasibility study.
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Daily Maverick
Borders signal the edge of a nation, they must never be the edge of the law
The management of borders represents a critical point where state authority meets human rights and national security concerns. Borders in both the United States and South Africa serve as enforcement areas that test constitutional law boundaries and state authority limits through ethical governance challenges. Despite the existence of strong constitutional frameworks, borders often emerge as zones where power is exercised with minimal oversight and have increasingly become the subject of heated debates under the pressure of opposing interests. Judicial mechanisms offer post-facto challenges to abuse, but don't deter injustice from occurring before any intervention takes place. At stake are not only questions of territorial control, but fundamental civil liberties. While judicial mechanisms exist to challenge abuse, their retrospective nature means infringement is effected before remedy is available. A meaningful solution requires proactive legal training, deeper transparency and a strong culture of accountability. South Africa: consolidation with broad powers The formal establishment in April 2023 of the Border Management Authority (BMA) marked a significant structural shift in South Africa's border enforcement as envisioned in terms of the Border Management Authority Act, 2020. The launch of the BMA aimed to unify fragmented tasks within immigration, customs and security functions as a bold step towards operational efficiency. However, with consolidation comes concentration of power and, arguably, insufficient legal guardrails are in place. Current training of South African border agents appears to place overwhelming emphasis on security protocols, logistics and document verification. Detailed information about the standard training for officials has not yet been publicly documented. At the front lines, however, critical dimensions such as constitutional rights, international refugee protections and administrative justice remain underdeveloped or entirely absent. This knowledge gap opens the door for discretionary overreach. Border agents routinely make major impactful decisions, often without sufficient legal grounding. While the Constitution guarantees rights to both citizens and non-citizens, the implementation at borders of those rights remains inconsistent. Legal training should be a vanguard defence against such inconsistency, focusing not only on the technicalities of immigration law but also on values such as proportionality, rationality and dignity, all central to South Africa's constitutional vision. A training curriculum that includes real-world case studies and evolving jurisprudence would provide border officials with the legal literacy necessary to act effectively and lawfully. Borders are not lawless zones South African jurisprudence offers strong guidance. The Supreme Court of Appeal determined in Minister of Home Affairs v Watchenuka (2004) that constitutional rights apply to non-citizens and invalidated the idea that state power at borders escapes constitutional oversight. The Constitutional Court's decision in Dawood v Minister of Home Affairs (2000) established the necessity for defined guidelines to limit discretionary immigration actions while affirming that arbitrary decisions stand in opposition to constitutional principles of governance. In Gaertner and Others v Minister of Finance (2014), the court struck down provisions permitting customs officials to conduct warrantless property searches. While emphasising judicial oversight and opposing unchecked surveillance at borders, the court reinforced that, even at the border, constitutional safeguards must apply. Collectively, these cases make clear that South African borders are not constitutional vacuums. They are spaces where state interest and individual rights must be carefully balanced, a principle that must be embedded in policy, training and enforcement alike. The US: oversight in theory, discretion in practice US border agents carry out their duties under the Fourth Amendment's 'border search exception', which permits searches at international borders without warrants. While initially designed for luggage and customs inspections, the doctrine has expanded to include searches of electronic devices, sparking privacy concerns. In United States v Cotterman (2013), the Ninth Circuit introduced a distinction between 'basic' and 'forensic' device searches, requiring reasonable suspicion for the latter. This case was critical in defining the legal thresholds for state intrusion into digital privacy. Yet, reasonable suspicion, a circumstantial belief based on specific facts, remains a vague and flexible standard. Oversight mechanisms, while present, often fail to prevent real-world overreach. On paper, the US legal framework provides stronger judicial review than in many jurisdictions. The Fourth Amendment, the exclusionary rule and civil rights litigation offer meaningful remedies. But these mechanisms are largely retrospective. They rely on the injured party to challenge misconduct after it has already occurred, a process few travellers are equipped to initiate. Even with oversight, systemic issues such as racial profiling, device confiscation and prolonged detentions persist. Lessons from Cato's Letters Cato's Letters, a series of 18th-century essays written by Trenchard and Gordon, warned eloquently of the dangers of unaccountable power. Their call for liberty, limited government and the rule of law echoes loudly in today's border enforcement regimes. They warned that unchecked authority, even in the name of security, leads inevitably to oppression and abuse. Their defence of transparency, legal constraint and civic vigilance remains a powerful lens through which to evaluate modern border agencies. Whether it is US Customs and Border Protection or South Africa's BMA, concentrated authority without immediate oversight fosters environments where individual rights are routinely subordinated to institutional convenience or, even worse, ignorance. Technology is not a silver bullet In the US, billions have been spent on advanced border technologies: facial recognition, drone surveillance, biometric scanning and AI-powered analytics. These tools increase efficiency, but also amplify state power, and raise serious concerns about surveillance overreach and algorithmic bias. South Africa, while historically underresourced in this domain, is catching up. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has recently emphasised the digitisation of border processes and initiated a drone surveillance programme aimed at improving security along hard-to-patrol land borders. These innovations are promising, but require legal frameworks and ethical training to ensure that they enhance, not undermine, accountability. Technology alone cannot substitute for legal safeguards, ethical enforcement and public scrutiny. Without strong norms and oversight, technology simply makes it easier to abuse power faster and more efficiently. South Africa's systemic challenges Corruption remains a long-standing problem in South Africa's border management system. With a land border network spanning more than 4,700km, complex challenges in border management, surveillance and cross-border movement are common. Beit Bridge and Lebombo, the two busiest land border posts by movement of both people and goods, have gained notoriety for their involvement in bribery schemes, fostering illegal and fraudulent migration, and smuggling operations. Yet, these incidents are not exclusive to those posts. Both law enforcement operations and public trust in government institutions suffer from these prevailing situations. While integration under the BMA may help streamline accountability, corruption is a human problem, solved not by structure alone but through culture, leadership and training. The US, too, has struggled with ethical lapses in border enforcement, including documented abuses during the Trump administration involving family separations, inadequate detention conditions and racially biased screening practices. In both countries, external accountability mechanisms – including independent oversight bodies, public reporting and whistle-blower protections – are essential to preventing and addressing misconduct. Training is the real infrastructure Perhaps the clearest point of divergence between the US and South Africa lies in training systems. In the US, border agents attend standardised courses at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers covering constitutional law, immigration enforcement and ethical decision-making. By contrast, in South Africa training has been historically fragmented. The establishment of the BMA has offered an opportunity to establish standardised, law-based training that integrates legal, technical and ethical components. Given the BMA's expanded scope, this is not optional; it should be critical. A border agent without sufficient legal literacy is not just a weak link in enforcement but a risk to the rights of every traveller, migrant or citizen they encounter. Too often abuse is reported and remains unchecked. The human element in reform Ultimately, border enforcement is about people, those enforcing the law and those subject to it. The most sophisticated policy or technology will fail if the individuals tasked with implementation are poorly trained, poorly supervised or poorly supported. Ethics, empathy and law must inform every aspect of border interaction. Both the US and South Africa must invest not only in infrastructure but in human capital. Agents must be trained to understand not only how to detect threats, but how to respect rights. Performance metrics should include not just seizures or interdictions, but fair treatment, procedural integrity and respect for dignity. The front lines of democracy and eternal vigilance Border zones are not places outside the law. They are 'stress tests' for democracy and constitutionalism. In South Africa and the United States alike, the challenge is not whether the state can exercise power at the border, but how that power is constrained, overseen and made just. Legal training, transparency and accountability are not luxuries; they are the foundation of legitimate enforcement. As Cato's Letters reminds us, liberty depends not only on institutions but on 'eternal vigilance'. DM
The Citizen
3 days ago
- The Citizen
Education experts hail DF Malan ruling as victory for school
The SCA dismissed an appeal by four parents who challenged the school governing body's authority to rename DF Malan High School. Education experts are celebrating the Supreme Court of Appeal's landmark ruling in the DF Malan High School case, describing it as a decisive victory that strengthens school governing bodies' authority to shed apartheid-era symbols and transform their institutional identities. The judgment, passed down on 4 June, which dismissed an appeal seeking to prevent the school from changing its name to DF Akademie, has been praised by education specialists as a precedent-setting decision that empowers school communities while establishing clear guidelines for institutional transformation. 'The judgement strengthens the school governing bodies to have the autonomy they need to make decisions about renaming schools, as long as they follow a fair and consultative process. This ruling sets a precedent for other schools,' said education expert Hendricks Makatena. Rautenbach & Others v The Governing Body of die Hoërskool DF Malan & Another (073/2024) [2025] ZASCA 78 (4 June 2025) Today the Supreme Court of Appeal (the SCA) handed down judgment, dismissing an appeal against an order granted in the Western Cape Division of the High Court. — Supreme Court of Appeal ZA (@SCA_ZA) June 4, 2025 Experts see broader implications for school governance Professor Brahm Fleisch, another education expert, emphasised the judgment's significance in reinforcing democratic school governance at a time when there are concerns about legislative changes undermining governing body roles. 'I think that in many respects, it's an important judgement because it says that communities have a very significant say in shaping their own institutions, the values and the vision of the institution,' Fleisch said. 'I think this judgment essentially reminds us that South Africa continues to have a very significant piece of legislation which grants real decision-making power to school governing bodies,' he added. Makatena noted that the Supreme Court's interpretation reveals greater autonomy than previously understood. 'SCA's interpretation of the Schools Act's provisions on governance suggests that school governing bodies have more autonomy than previously thought. The court's ruling that the governing body has the implied power to change the school's name empowers schools to take ownership of their decisions.' ALSO READ: Hoërskool DF Malan wants a new, more inclusive name Fleisch highlighted how the court's reliance on constitutional principles strengthened the foundation of the judgment. The expert emphasised that the decision aligns with constitutional values of human dignity, equality, and freedom, making it consistent with the principle of 'an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality, and freedom'. Process creates template for future cases Education specialists see the ruling as establishing a clear roadmap for other schools considering similar transformations. Fleisch explained that 'the judgement officially created a process and logic of reasoning should this issue occur in any other school… basically what the judgement does is it provides the rationale, and the overall logic that would need to be followed if another school wanted to change its name.' Makatena predicted the judgment will influence how institutions approach change: 'The judgement may influence schools to approach renaming or revising symbols with caution, ensuring that they engage in comprehensive consultation processes and consider the impact on their communities. Schools may prioritise contextual understanding and stakeholder engagement when making decisions about their names and symbols.' ALSO READ: 'Using k-word is illegal': Northern Cape teacher fired for racist outburst loses reinstatement battle External facilitation model endorsed The experts praised the use of independent facilitation in the DF Malan case, with Makatena noting that 'usually, external facilitators bring knowledge and skills to manage complex decision-making processes.' He added that 'bringing in an external facilitator particularly facilitated that trusted by all parties is often away which potential disagreement can get resolved amicably.' This approach, overseen by experienced mediator Di Jan Frederick Marais, included group discussions focused on the school's identity and core values, leading to the May 2021 decision that the original name conflicted with the school's Christian ethos and inclusivity policy. Procedural fairness standards clarified Addressing concerns about consultation processes, Makatena emphasised that 'the court's finding confirms that schools should prioritise transparency and fairness when making decisions that affect their communities.' The Supreme Court found that minimum requirements under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act were met through detailed stakeholder invitations, unbiased facilitation, and broad community engagement. The court's acceptance of the 'saturation point' approach, where consultation ended when no new perspectives emerged, provides guidance for future processes while ensuring comprehensive community input. Message to educational institutions Education experts believe the ruling sends a powerful message about institutional reflection and transformation. 'This judgement sends a message to schools and educators about the importance of reflecting on their institutional identities and values,' Makatena observed. Fleisch described the name change as representing a careful balance between preservation and modernisation: 'The decision about the school name is an attempt on the part of the school governing body to preserve the legacy of the school and the memory and the communities reputation of school. 'The school was trying very hard to find a mechanism of preserving the community and belief and commitment to the school, but also to modernise the school name in a way that addresses some of the most egregious parts of the historical name of the school.' ALSO READ: Education department clears the air on school calendar 'changes' Impact on decolonisation discourse The experts see the judgment as contributing positively to broader educational transformation efforts. 'The judgement contributes positively to the discourse about decolonisation,' Makatena concluded, while Fleisch noted that the decision reinforces the importance of schools being 'mindful of the context and changing context within school.' DF Malan school case background The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by four parents who challenged the school governing body's authority to rename DF Malan High School, which had borne the name of the apartheid architect since its establishment in 1954. The court found that governing bodies possess implied power under the South African Schools Act to rename schools, and that the consultative process met all procedural requirements. The ruling, delivered with costs including expenses for two counsel, establishes that school communities have the democratic authority to transform their institutional identities while following fair and comprehensive consultation processes. READ NEXT: Department scrambles to fix curriculum chaos at Gauteng school after delayed start
