Racist pupils face boot

School pupils who make use of the k-word or other racial slurs should face expulsion.

This is the recommendation of the South African Human Rights Commission in a recent ruling on a racist incident at one of the country's oldest schools.

The SAHRC's report, released recently, comes four years after the incident, which took place in one of the 156-year-old Queen's College Boy's High School's hostels.

In 2010, during a PlayStation game, a white Grade 11 boy asked Grade 10 black pupil Jama Bikitsha: "Why are you staring at me, k****r?"

The offender has not been named as he was a minor at the time, but Jama's father, Edward, consented to his son's name being used.

The commission found the older boy's punishment of 10 demerits, compulsory counselling and an apology was "inappropriate and lenient, taking into account the seriousness of the violation of the victim's fundamental rights".

The school was also criticised for not treating the matter "with the seriousness it deserved" and for treating hate speech and "racial misbehaviour" as minor offences.

Unhappy with the school's "trivialising" of the incident, Edward, an attorney in Mthatha, lodged a complaint with the SAHRC against the school and the Queenstown district education department.

The SAHRC found that the father had been "justified" in taking the matter further.

"As a direct consequence of the leniency, no accountability was taken by the offender for his grave actions," the rights body found.

The SAHRC recommended that the school change its code of conduct to include expulsion as a possible punishment for hate speech and racial offences.

Principal Brendan Grant said it was "premature" to comment on the findings as the school had 45 days to respond to the report.

Grant described the incident as "isolated".

Racism at school

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