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Hoërskool Overvaal ruling a setback for non-racialism: Lesufi

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The Pretoria High Court has set aside the Gauteng Education Department’s placement of 55 English learners at Hoërskool Overvaal.  The school launched an urgent application to overturn the Department’s decision.

Legal representatives of both parties concluded their arguments on Friday.

The school’s legal representative, Advocate Albert Lamey argued that Overvaal has reached its admission capacity and that it has no space to accommodate the additional learners.  However Advocate Kumbirai Thoma, representing the Department argued that there was enough space at the school and that the Department had committed itself to providing the school with English teachers and additional resources to accommodate the learners at the Afrikaans-medium school.

There was a brief confrontation in court following the ruling.

Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has described the ruling as a setback for non-racialism. “This SGB is coming to an end in March. They’ve got 90 days to submit their new policy to us. The court has confirmed that the HOD is the right person to declare this, if the schools is full, if the school is not full.  So it’s a short lived victory for those that think they will get it. We’ll get this thing right. The struggle for non-racialism cannot be stopped by anyone,” said Lesufi.

The Vereeniging-based Hoerskool Overvaal’s SGB has been accused of using language to exclude the learners, arguing that Hoerskool Overvaal was an Afrikaans single medium school.

However, the school’s lawyers argued that the school had reached its admission capacity.

They said it was within their right to admit or refuse learners as is provided for in the School’s Act.

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