12 Pretoria Girls High pupils suspended amid claims of racis
Twelve pupils from Pretoria High School for Girls have been suspended amid allegations of racism at the school, the Gauteng Department of Education confirmed on Wednesday.
The department’s spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said that the school alerted the Tshwane South District about a planned protest by a group of pupils on Friday, 19 July.
"This was triggered by alleged racial connotations, micro-aggressions and complaints about black learners, which were ventilated through a WhatsApp group comprised of white learners,” he said.
"The conversations allegedly included racial commentary about the ongoing dissatisfaction among black learners regarding issues they faced at the school, alluding to these issues being insignificant.
"Similar commentary about a black hair protest by learners that reportedly took place at the school in 2016 was also made in the group chat."
Mabona says a meeting was called where pupils were given an opportunity to air their grievances.
The grievances included alleged repeated instances of racism with little to no action taken by the principal, allegations of bullying and the alleged preferential treatment of white pupils by the principal and some staff members.
"The School Governing Body immediately suspended all implicated learners, and their disciplinary hearing is scheduled to take place on 30 and 31 July 2024. The district has launched an investigation to probe all mentioned allegations, especially against school employees accordingly,” said Mabona.
ALSO READ:
