Pricipal kicks out AIDS activist

MBABANE – An HIV/AIDS activist was kicked-out of Good Shepherd High School by the institution’s principal for allegedly teaching sex to pupils.

Sanele Mdluli, a Times Sunday columnist who has publicly declared his HIV positive status, was forced by principal Susan Matsebula to abandon his HIV/AIDS talk on Tuesday morning because he was viewed as too explicit in his address and was encouraging the pupils to engage in sexual activities.

The school had reportedly given Mdluli 30 minutes to educate the pupils but was hardly five minutes into his address when he was ordered by Matsebula to stop and vacate the school premises.

Sources said pupils were shocked at the principal’s action because they wanted to hear what Mdluli had to say, as he is their former colleague, having previously enrolled at the school for only two weeks.
“The way that the principal stopped his talk and further led him out of the school gate was embarrassing to say the least,” one pupil said.

When contacted, Mdluli confirmed the incident and said he was still traumatised by the principal’s actions more so because he did not understand what he had done wrong.
“All that I had said was my background and how I got infected with HIV. The things I had said included my previous promiscuous life and I don’t know what was wrong about that since it was just plain facts,” Mdluli said.
He said all that he was doing was present an honest, truthful motivational talk to the pupils and therefore felt embarrassed by the principal’s actions.

Said Mdluli: “As the teacher led me out of the school premises, I asked her what the problem was and that was when she told me that I was teaching the pupils sex, something that was unacceptable in a catholic school.”
He said what further surprised him was that he had made similar presentations to other schools in Siteki including Nazarene, where they never had a problem with his vocabulary.

When reached for comment the principal corroborated the story and said teachers thanked her for stopping Mdluli, as well as kicking him out because he was using terminology that is barred in Catholic institutions.
“In less than five minutes the boy had said a lot of things about sex and we were all taken by surprise hence I felt I should stop him,” Matsebula said.

She said as a Catholic institution they were told to teach abstinence and not what Mdluli was telling the pupils.
“The teachers were really angry at what Mdluli was saying and they thanked me afterwards for having halted his presentation because you could tell that he was going to reveal more sexually explicit stuff,” the principal said.
Matsebula said they also thought that Mdluli was mentally unstable hence they stopped him from continuing with his presentation.

“As teachers we know Mdluli to be a former pupil but the way he was shabbily dressed on the day made us to doubt his mentality hence when he started teaching the pupils about sex I felt I had to interject,” the principal claimed.