News24 | Probe finds Roedean forfeited tennis match with King David because of academic workshops

Roedean School board chairperson Dale Quaker has resigned with immediate effect.

• An independent investigation commissioned by the board of Roedean School has found that it forfeited a tennis fixture because it clashed with academic workshops.
• Roedean’s board announced on Monday that its chairperson, Dale Quaker, had resigned with immediate effect and that it followed “careful reflection on the pressure the recent period has placed on him and his family”.
• The head of Roedean Senior School, Phuti Mogale, resigned last Thursday amid the controversy and public backlash.
  

An independent probe has found that Roedean School forfeited a tennis match against King David High because the fixture clashed with academic workshops scheduled at the same time as the event.

In a communiqué to parents on Monday, the board said “protocol was not followed, and the situation was subsequently compounded by failures in communication and judgment at the leadership level”.

The board’s revelation comes amid another communiqué to parents on Monday, in which it announced the immediate resignation of chairperson Dale Quaker from Roedean’s board.

His resignation follows the departure of the head of Roedean senior school, Phuti Mogale, last Thursday, after the school cancelled a tennis fixture with King David High School on 3 February.

She had been at the helm for just over seven months after assuming duty on 1 July 2025.

Roedean participants had expressed reservations about playing against King David participants.

READ | Roedean principal resigns as school apologises to King David

After Roedean’s no-show at the match, which was supposed to have been played at Roedean, the deputy head of King David, Bruce Nozaic, said in a voice note: “Our King David first-team tennis girls were scheduled to play Roedean this afternoon (3 February) at Roedean, but Roedean has refused to play us because the kids who will be walking onto the courts are Jewish.”

Roedean informed parents that Quaker’s decision to step down “follows careful reflection on the pressure the recent period has placed on him and his family”.

“The nature of the public commentary has crossed acceptable boundaries and has had a direct impact on their sense of safety and well-being. The board respects and supports his decision to prioritise his family’s security and peace of mind.”

The board stated that it was fully constituted and operational, and that there was no disruption to the school’s governance and its daily academic or co-curricular activities.

The board approved the appointment of Thembi Mazibuko as the interim chairperson and Claudia Bickford-Smith as the deputy interim chairperson.

The board stated that over the next three months, it would focus on:

Concerns not properly managed

Meanwhile, in the other letter, which updated parents on the investigation into the incident, the board said several Roedean pupils had expressed concerns about participating in the tennis match before the 3 February event.

“These concerns were not managed through appropriate leadership processes. They were not escalated, assessed or resolved.”

Roedean commissioned an independent investigation to establish the factual sequence of events leading to the cancellation of the tennis match.

“The board accepts the findings of the external forensic investigation. The board’s initial understanding of the circumstances was based on information provided at the time.”

The board stated that the investigation established that this understanding was incomplete.

“The board accepts responsibility for acting on information that was not sufficiently verified.

READ | Apologetic Roedean seeks to rebuild trust after King David tennis fixture fallout

Phase 2 of the investigation will focus on the potential root causes, with a broader mandate, that will review governance, policy and decision-making processes, including the events leading up to the sports cancellation.”

It said that that phase was under way and was expected to conclude within two weeks.

“The purpose of this phase is to ensure that governance and procedural failures are properly addressed and that clear safeguards are strengthened going forward.

“We remain unequivocal in rejecting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination. That principle stands independent of this investigation and remains central to our values.”

However, while Roedean’s independent investigation found that the school forfeited the fixture “because academic workshops had been scheduled at the same time as the match”, Mogale admitted to her counterpart from King David High, Lorraine Srage, during a phone call on 2 February that some parents had objected to the school playing King David.

During the 2 February call, Srage asked Mogale whether parents of pupils were objecting to Roedean playing against King David.

Mogale replied:

In a statement issued to parents last week, King David stated that after Srage and the tennis players arrived at Roedean on 3 February, she contacted Mogale to ask where the players were and “she was met with another excuse that the players were in geography workshops”.

“This had also not been disclosed before the teams’ arrival or in the conversation between the heads of school the day before,” the statement read.

During another telephone call on 4 February, Srage told Mogale, “I don’t believe for one minute that all your teams take geography. One of our staff members went to the geography class, and there was no geography happening.

“So, the allegation is quite founded in the fact that you did not want to play us because we’re a Jewish school.”