Protest at Pretoria high school over alleged racial slur

Community members protested at Hoërskool Die Wilgers in Pretoria on Monday, demanding action against racism, bullying and discrimination.

In May a 14-year-old grade 8 pupil was allegedly subjected to a racial slur, specifically the k-word, by two other students. The victim, who cannot be named due to her age, suffered severe trauma and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

The father of the victim expressed his frustration at the school's response.

“No expulsion letter or outcome from the disciplinary hearing was provided because it was never there,” he said.

“For the first time we were able to get answers from the school. The answers were there were two boys. So the one that said the word is still at school and on Monday he was also due for court, but because of the march, I could not attend court.”

The second boy who allegedly said the K-word to his daughter had been expelled.

“The other one is expelled because he has been doing other stuff. So he has been naughty,” said the father. 

His concern extended beyond his own child's wellbeing.

“My child was brave enough to come to me but there are other children who are scared because high school is intimidating. My drive for the march was a probe to the school because I also sat with the principal and the school governing body (SGB) and asked what have you done? What has this incident taught you?”

Patriotic Alliance community leader and activist Felicia April voiced frustration on Tuesday.

“We had a meeting with the principal and the chair of the SGB and one of the guys from the department. That guy the department sent wasn't so clued up about the case because he didn't handle it from the beginning. So he asked us to give him time to go back and investigate properly. They invited us for a meeting tomorrow [Wednesday] at 12pm,” she said.

April also expressed dissatisfaction with the school’s actions.

“We want the principal to be removed and we want the bully child to be placed in another school,” she said.

“We’re happy with the outcome of yesterday [Monday], but the work is not completed until they give us what we want. I told them yesterday I will come back to the school until they meet our demand. So we're waiting for our meeting tomorrow [Wednesday] to hear the outcome. If they're not giving us what we want we are planning on going back next week.

“We’re taking the fight against racism and bullying and we're not going to stop. We have another school we're going to next Tuesday. So far, three parents from the same school have come forward. Wherever we need it, we’re going to go.

“We will call on all parents next week in our next march to come up. We will call on all parents to come out with the same issues or dealing with similar problems. They must come out and reach out to us.”

In the wake of these events, the victim’s father reported his daughter is slowly adjusting to her new school and catching up on her studies.

“My daughter is doing OK and adjusting bit by bit. Enjoying is a rather overrated word but she is adapting, though she has a lot of work to catch up on and extra classes to attend,” he said.

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