Cape Town - The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is probing two reports of racism at Cape Town schools amid an outcry from parents and political parties.
This follows two shocking reports of racist behaviour at Table View High School and Pinelands High Schools in less than a week.
In the first incident, a white substitute teacher at Table View High School was accused of using a racial slur during a history lesson on July 17, with reports from parents that the teacher used the k-word during the lesson with Grade 12 learners.
In the second incident, coloured learners at Pinelands High School were recorded “selling” their black classmates at a mock auction.
The incident was captured on a cellphone camera and subsequently shared on social media.
This was reported to the school management by concerned parent Merle Potgieter.
SAHRC Western Cape provincial manager Zena Nair yesterday confirmed they were aware of the incidents.
“I confirm that the Western Cape Police Ombudsman is aware of both these matters and that same are being investigated,” Nair said.
In a letter written to SAHRC commissioner Chris Nissen, Masizole Mnqasela of the Alliance for Citizens of Change (ACC) called for an urgent investigation and a zero-tolerance approach to racism.
“The above two incidents are the epitome of a large deficiency in our ability to foster social cohesion in our society.
“Our schools remain the bedrock and microcosm of our societal norms and standards. There is no place for hate in South Africa; all those who seek to spread hate and division must be held accountable and punished for their crimes,” Mnqasela said.
The leader of the opposition in the Western Cape legislature, ANC MPL Khalid Sayed, said they called for a broad investigation into racism at Cape schools following the incident at Pinelands High School.
“This appalling display of racism is not an isolated event but yet another example of a broader pattern of racial injustice within our schools in the province which goes back many years.
“This incident reflects the pervasive problem of racism that often goes unreported in many of the former Model C schools in the Western Cape.”
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond said the department is aware of the video.
“The school management has engaged with the staff and learners.
“The SGB has convened and a number of learners have been precautionarily suspended pending the conclusion of an ongoing investigation,” Hammond said.
Professor Aslam Fataar, research professor in transformation at Stellenbosch University, based in the university’s department of education policy studies, said while the actions of the learners were incorrect, the issue needed to be addressed holistically.
Speaking to the Cape Argus, he said that 30 years into democracy, the country had seen a resurgence in the culture of racism and xenophobia.
“So what caused it? The current political, populist rhetoric has seen the resurgence of views of supremacy. Children are filters of what is heard in the community and use of the k-word and slaves being sold comes from a lack of education on the origins of slavery.”
Fataar said the Education Department cannot simply say the matter is being investigated.
A concerted effort must be made by schools to include the values upheld in the Constitution into the codes of conduct for schools, he said.