KZN schoolboys suspended for refusing to cut hair

Five pupils were suspended from two Kwazulu Natal schools for refusing to cut their hair.

The boys‚ who are from Ezinhlabeni and eZibukweni high schools in the province's Mbodla and Ubombo regions respectively‚ laid complaints with the the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural‚ Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) earlier this month.

CRL spokesperson Mpiyakhe Mkholo said the pupils' parents approached the commission after their boys‚ who are affiliated with the Nazareth Church which does not permit the cutting of male hair‚ were suspended from the two schools.

"The CRL Rights Commission will be conducting an urgent mediation intervention involving Ezinhlabeni High School and eZibukweni High‚ the affected parents‚ the leaders of the Nazareth Church as well as the Department of Education‚" Mkholo said.

"This mediation is in response to complaints received by the commission from some of the parents alleging that their children who are learners at these schools were dismissed by teachers for not having shaved their heads."

He added that the five boys‚ who have since been allowed to come back to school premises pending the meeting‚ seek clarity from the department on a way for schools to accommodate their religion.

They will meet a team from the CRL Commission led by its chairperson‚ Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva.

- TMG Digital