WATCH: ‘I felt ugly‚ I felt unworthy’ - Pretoria Girls High alumni tell their stories

Yentel Le Roux felt ugly‚ unworthy and ashamed about her hair. The emotions flood back as she describes her inner turmoil after a teacher made comments about her hair.

“I felt like‚ well‚ I’m sorry for having this type of hair‚” she says‚ pausing to regain her composure. She holds back the tears.

Pretoria Girls High alumni have spoken out in solidarity with school pupils who took a stand against being bullied into straightening their hair. The standoff has generated a heated national debate and a great deal of soul-searching about race‚ identity and school discipline. It is also snowballing as protests spread to other schools.

The Economic Freedom Fighters staged a protest at Lawson Brown High School in Nelson Mandela Bay on Tuesday after a pupil was allegedly told she won’t be able to write her exams with an afro.

Pretoria Girls High alumni from across the world rallied through Facebook and sent video messages to Times Media‚ expressing a mixture of raw emotion‚ shame and disbelief at some of their own experiences at the school.

See for yourself what the alumni had to say:

“I felt ugly. I felt unworthy. I felt like‚ well‚ I’m sorry for having this type of hair‚” said Le Roux‚ who matriculated in 2011.

But they also shared their pride in the young girls for taking on the school authorities.

“They were able to do what I was afraid of doing‚ what my friends were afraid of doing and the generations before me were afraid of doing‚” said Le Roux

They recall how teachers spoke about afro hairstyles as “bird’s nests” or described them as “a bush”.

Former pupils were stopped in the corridors because their hair was “untamed” and made to “pat’ their hair until until it went flat. “How do you pat what God has given you‚” asked Lebo Kgothadi who matriculated in 2009.

Kutlwano Precious‚ who matriculated in 2015‚ gave the girls a vote of confidence in her video message‚ saying: “Yeah‚ rock your afro my queen. You’re black‚ you’re beautiful and you’re powerful.”

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has suspended the school’s controversial hair policy and told the pupils: “Your pain will never‚ ever continue again‚ if I’m the MEC for education in this province.”

More than 24,000 people had signed a petition after the school cracked down on a protest by the pupils‚ entitled Stop Racism at Pretoria Girls High‚ by 11am on Tuesday.