Johannesburg - The ANC in Heidelberg has called for the disbanding of the Hoër Volkskool’s school governing body (SGB), which it claims is racist and biased against black pupils.
It has also called for the dismissal of two teachers, one of whom they said was sleeping during class, while the other used a loudhailer to teach.
“We want them (the SGB) to be dissolved and for there to be an investigation,” said Ernest Dlamini, the ANC’s chairman in Lesedi, at a march to the school on Monday.
The march was organised by the Mass Democratic Movement, which is a collective of the ANC, SACP, the SA Democratic Teachers Union, parents at the school and community members.
They handed over a memorandum of their concerns which was signed by a representative for the SGB and the Gauteng Department of Education.
“We are deeply concerned that the SGB of the school is lilly (sic) white and it is led by amongst others white Police Officers who in turn would be called in to investigate cases between black and white kids,” the memorandum said.
Dlamini branded the SGB racist for the way it handled a fist fight between black and white pupils at the school on August 2.
“Only Africans were disciplined and one was (expelled),” he said.
A member of the SGB, Corrie Human, said this was not true.
“The children who were disciplined were in equal amount black and white,” he said.
Human added that the boy who had left the school had been removed by his mother voluntarily after he was due to appear before another disciplinary panel for walking into a classroom on August 28 without his pants on.
“We cannot expel a child, we can only make recommendations to the HOD (head of department),” he added.
Human said this particular pupil had thrown rocks during the fist fight on August 2, and had hit a female pupil who was “a bystander”.
He also dismissed the notion that the SGB should be removed.
“There would be no grounds to remove the SGB.
“There have been allegations of racism (in the school) since 2010 but they have never been substantiated,” he said.
But a mother who attended the march felt otherwise.
“My child has had several episodes of assault by white pupils, and when it happens like that, the white pupils are not expelled,” she said.
“Basically, it’s racism,” the mother added.
At the march, the ANC members held up pictures of what appeared to be two white female teachers, one of whom was slumped at her desk with her head down and another was holding up a loudhailer.
Human said these two matters would be investigated.
Department of Education spokesman Gershwin Chuenyane said: “The department is conducting an independent investigation on allegations of racism at the school.”
The Star