KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC, Kwazi Mshengu, says there will be consequences for those found to have been involved in perpetuating racism at the Grosvenor Girls High School on the Bluff, south of Durban.
This follows the release of a report by an independent panel appointed to probe allegations of racism and financial misconduct at the school after protests broke out in March.
During the protest action, learners said they are being called black monkeys, sluts and taxi queens.
They said they are not allowed to have Afro hairstyles, although it is not expressly forbidden in the school rules.
Principal Linda Jorgenson has since been placed on precautionary suspension during the probe.
The panel found that racism had been normalised at the school and was systematic and structural.
Mshengu says no one will be spared from sanctions following the findings.
“What the report presents is really a very bad state of affairs in the school, whereby it confirms with authority, the allegation as raised by learners in particular. At the centre of that problem of racism is the principal, as well as the deputy principal, who on daily basis perpetuate racism, be it in relation to learners of African origin, as well as staff members, including the educators themselves.”
In the video below, Mshengu unpacks the details of the report:
Inquiry calls
Meanwhile, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has welcomed calls by MEC Mshengu for a commission of inquiry into alleged racism at all schools in the province.
SADTU provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza says: “We always find departmental officials turning their back and not coming closer to these schools hence the perpetration of these wrongdoings. As SADTU, we fully support the call by the MEC for the premier to establish a commission that will be investigating all schools and we also encourage people who suffered these ill treatments, racism and discrimination in the workplace as well as leaners in the schools. Schools must be a safe haven for teaching and learning.”
More details in the report below:
