Islamophobia, racism and homophobia: these are some of the forms of discrimination a former pupil at Somerset College in Stellenbosch has accused the school of allowing.
Maalik Cassiem, 20, detailed his alleged “nightmare” experience at the school, which haunts him years after he left.
Cassiem said he had reported his incidents to his parents, friends, the human rights commission and the school, which had reportedly done nothing to remedy his trauma.
“I started there for a fresh start as I did not enjoy my time at my previous high school. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a nightmare. At first the racism was subtle, certain white students would make fun of my coloured accent through imitation followed by laughter.
“I would shrug this off as petty and childish behaviour.
“Another student asked me where I was from and randomly started naming poor gang-ridden coloured areas such as the Cape Flats and Mitchells Plain. Another white student yelled out loud in the grade 10 dorm section: ‘Kill the gay coloured,’ as I am also gay,” said Cassiem.
Cassiem said when his parents met principal Graham Sayer, Sayer “indirectly” threatened them with a lawsuit.
“I quote loosely: ‘Well Mrs Cassiem, we are trying to protect you from a lawsuit from the other parents’,” Cassiem alleged his mother was told.
Sayer told TimesLIVE Premium that in spite of the difficulty of investigating allegations from several years ago, the school was willing to “explore how we might assist him now and what we might be able to learn from him”.
“It is truly heart-rending and dismaying to be confronted by the lingering pain that Mr Cassiem has. Some of the incidents he raised we were not aware of. However, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to receive his feedback so we can learn to prevent other students from having a similar experience in the future.
“We do not want any student to experience racism, unfair or unlawful discrimination, bullying and the like on our campus. We are decidedly against these.
“Since August 2017 (the year of Cassiem’s first complaints), we have put in a great deal of work to continue the transformation process at Somerset College and to introduce policies and procedures for addressing racism, unfair or unlawful discrimination, harassment and bullying,” Sayer said.
He said Cassiem had indicated he was not comfortable speaking to the school.
Cassiem said he had to rely on his friends to report the issues to the school as he felt intimidated. He also alleged he was discriminated against on the basis of his Islam religion.
“I wasn’t comfortable speaking to him [Sayer]. It all happened in front of him and he didn’t do much. If I were to see the man, a lot of it would come back. I didn’t want to rehash the issues with him. It’s only after he saw that I had escalated the matter that he reached out,” Cassiem said.
The incidents which date from 2017, include one at the end of his grade 12 year, where he was allegedly isolated and told to shave his hair for the yearbook. However, he was misled and the photographs were taken without him.
“This was heartbreaking as I had missed an important event for the end of my high school career. In addition, one of my final experiences with regards to discrimination was regarding hair as my drama teacher told me to slick my hair back with gel for a play ... and asked if it was possible for my hair to be gelled back given it was so thick and curly,” he said.
Sayer said the school has made attempts to address diversity at the school. Cassiem, however, demands a public apology and accountability.
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