The EFF has vowed to continue its protests at Hoërskool Overvaal this week.
"The protest will continue until there is a commitment that whatever led to this abnormality is reversed. We will definitely be at the school on Monday," said Azwi Tshitangano, EFF member of the Gauteng provincial legislature and party convener in Sedibeng.
The school has been a scene of violent clashes - some needed the intervention of police - since a court ruled that Overvaal did not have to accept 55 English-speaking pupils into the Afrikaans-medium school. The ruling came after Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi had initially instructed the school to take in the pupils.
Tshitangano said the protests were not just about the 55 pupils, who have been accommodated elsewhere.
"In that area where the school is, the majority of people living there are black. That is our first issue. There are two primary schools there and the majority of the kids in these schools are black. That hoërskool is supposed to be a feeder school for these primary schools, but it is not really the case."We want a situation where the [55] kids are given an opportunity to study there in the immediate term. In the long term, we want the majority of kids who are residing in that area, who are at the nearby primary schools within a radius of 10km to 15km, to be given an opportunity to study in that school," he said.
The Gauteng education department lamented the disruptions at Overvaal.
"Parents and communities should note that it is difficult to recover lost curriculum time, and children end up being the victims. The MEC will continue to meet all stakeholders to resolve issues and restore stability."
The Freedom Front Plus has called for Lesufi to step down in the wake of the saga.
The South African Human Rights Commission's André Gaum said there was "a clear need for broader discussions on the transformation of the public education system, including on the issue of language policies at schools"...