One of the pupils who lifted the lid on racism allegations at Pretoria High School for Girls was victimised, according to Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane.
He disclosed this when he announced the 3-month suspension of principal Phillipa Erasmus following allegations of racism which saw 12 learners suspended.
It also emerged that eight of the pupils were prefects and have since been stripped of their titles.
It was further disclosed that there was new evidence regarding complaints of racism raised in 2023 by some of the learners.
“One of the whistle-blowers came forward and what makes me sad is that she was victimised. We were able to get her evidence,” he said.
The school governing body (SGB) was set to hold a disciplinary hearing following the complaints made by black learners who reported that the white girls who have been suspended had set up a WhatsApp group chat to discuss them.
The learners further claimed that the principal and school’s management team did not take action following their complaints, and that white learners received preferential treatment from teachers.
The black learners also bemoaned the alleged selective application of the school code of conduct, with harsher treatment for black learners compared to their white counterparts.
Chiloane urged the SGB to move quickly with the disciplinary hearing as the matter needs to be concluded urgently.
“We know they are working parents, but they need to take time because they availed themselves to be elected ... If they are struggling, they need to let us know that they are struggling.
We will give them support if they need additional support. We will be keeping a close eye on them, we will be pushing them every day to get an update so that they conclude this thing quickly so that the school can go back to normal,” he said.
Alleged racist incidents at school, predominantly former model C schools, reared their heads in the past week with similar incidents reported in two Western Cape schools.
Pinelands High School’s governing body precautionarily suspended a number of Grade 8 learners amid racism and bullying allegations after they were captured on video footage “selling off” their black peers as slaves.
In the video with the caption “Slavery at schools is crazy”, black learners are caged in what appears to be a storage space while their coloured peers pretend to auction them off to bidders.
One of the learners is heard shouting “going once, going twice, sold!” Another mentions different prices including R2 000 and R10 000, the prices gradually increasing.
Once a learner was “sold”, he was removed from the cage and made to stand next to the learner who “bought” him.
No action has yet been announced against a white substitute history teacher at Table View High School who allegedly used the k-word as part of a Grade 12 history lesson on black consciousness.
Weighing in on the incidents, Parliament’s select committee on education chairperson Makhi Feni warned that while these may be isolated incidents, it was possible that the problem in the basic education sector was bigger than previously thought.
He called on the Department of Basic Education to determine the extent of the problem.
“Racism in all its forms is deplorable and we condemn it. The schools in question should consider meaningful programmes that will foster social cohesion and South Africanness among our learners. It is unfortunate that black learners always find themselves victims of these incidents. The learners did not choose to be black and ought to be respected in the spaces they find themselves in, especially in schools.”
He said South Africans needed to condemn such “barbaric and uncivilised” acts.
“Modern South Africa does not have spaces reserved for whites or blacks only. This was the case in the 1960s, but certainly not now.
“The question we all ought to ask genuinely is what emboldens a person, hardly a teenager, with no knowledge of where we come from as a country, to act in a manner that points to racism. Surely, our children are not and should not be racist,” he said.
*Additional reporting Staff Reporter
Cape Times