The executive principal of a private Pretoria school that was rocked by racism allegations last year has apologised to “those we have let down in the past”.
Leon Kunneke, who is leaving Cornwall Hill College at the end of July, said “where we have not met our obligation to meet every child, we will endeavour to do so in the future”.
“We will hear you all and this is an assurance I give you: the school leadership will do all in their power to identify and eradicate racism at the school.”
The school is in the process of appointing three deputy principals for its pre-primary, primary and high school to meet its transformation agenda.
On Tuesday, a group of eight parents stood outside the school to mark the one-year anniversary of an antiracism protest.
One of the parents who took part in last year’s protest, Zibusiso Kganyago, wife of Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago, gave a submission to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in October which voiced concerns about what it said was a lack of transformation and a general racial divide at the school.
The SAHRC began a probe into allegations of discrimination at the school in June last year.
In March, the management and board of the school did not attend the public hearings called by the SAHRC at the institution because they were not given details of the allegations.
In a joint statement on Tuesday by Kunneke and board chair Prithinee Naidoo, the school said the appointment of deputy principals “will add greater momentum to our commitment to take bold, deliberate and intentional steps on the journey ahead”.
An average of 40% of the new enrolments in the school in 2022 have been black children. Extensive work is being done in the academic, co-curricular and cultural activities in the classroom to ensure higher levels of diversity and transformation in the daily learning of the children and teachers.
It said the school has made “solid progress in its transformation execution” which included:
- The introduction of a dignity and anti-discrimination policy;
- The establishment of a platform within the parents’ association to address diversity and transformation through authentic, robust and inclusive discussions; and
- The establishment of an inclusion steering committee to ensure every facet of the school experience is reviewed and modified through a transformation and inclusion lens.
According to the statement, 13 new black teachers were appointed over the past 12 months.
At least 17% of the 134 teachers are black while 24 of the 26 intern teachers hired are black.
The percentage of black pupils attending the school, where fees for grades 10-12 are about R100,000 this year, increased from 34% last year to 36%.
“An average of 40% of the new enrolments in the school in 2022 have been black children. Extensive work is being done in the academic, co-curricular and cultural activities in the classroom to ensure higher levels of diversity and transformation in the daily learning of the children and teachers.”
The school said there was an ongoing process to review diversity representation within the board and the school executive management “with the deliberate recruitment of suitable candidates in key positions”.
Naidoo said: “Whilst we celebrate the strides made in the past year in driving transformation and increasing inclusiveness in the school, the board and management are committed to progressively and intentionally working to further the transformation opportunities.”
She said they “rejoice in the diversity of our children and we will work tirelessly to create a place where everyone feels naturally included”.
Kunneke said they had children from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, adding: “We have the responsibility to actively promote tolerance and inclusion, among both staff and pupils, and seek to ensure that all members of the school community feel accepted and valued.”
He apologised “to those we have let down in the past”, saying: “The school leadership will do all in their power to identify and eradicate racism at the school.”
A parent who was part of the group standing outside the school said: “The school has taken a number of steps in the direction we need to go, but our concern is that the attitude of the leadership and the culture of the school is no different than a year ago.”
She said more than a year after pupils penned a document about their experiences of racism at the school, “there has not been an adequate response from the leadership of the school to acknowledge those students’ pain and to take responsibility for the school management’s part in the wrong that was done to the students”.
“They may be hiring some black teacher interns, but still there are racial incidents in the past few months where the perpetrators have acted with impunity. The changes therefore are not deep enough and not genuine.”
The SAHRC had not responded to media queries at the time of publication.
Last year the SAHRC rejected a request by the board asking the commission to amend a questionnaire it was preparing to send to pupils as part of its inquiry. The questions included whether pupils thought there was racism at the school and whether they had experienced racist bullying.
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