'Segregated' seating in North West school sparks international celeb outrage

Several local and international celebrities have lambasted the alleged "separation" of black and white children in a grade R class at Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke in the North West.

A picture of four black children sitting separately from the white children in the class went viral on social media on Wednesday and sparked outrage. The picture showed the four black children seated at the same desk on one end of the room. The 18 white children were placed at a single long table in the middle of the room.

While the school claimed the children had decided to sit in those groups for the photo, one of the parent's of the learners to TimesLIVE they weren't buying the "excuse".

"Members of Sadtu (the SA Democratic Teachers Union) went to the school and they gave us a report-back. They say the school says the children decided to sit that way, which is not true," said the disgruntled parent.

It was soon picked up by international media, including American viral publication The Shade Room which shared it with it's 14.7 million followers on Instagram. It had got over 39,200 comments and a quarter of a million likes in just over 12 hours.

Musician Miles B was one of the first to speak out on the matter, simply exclaiming "ahhh HELLL NAH!"

Love and Hip-Hop star and Omarion's baby mama, Apryl Jones also shared her surprise over the picture.

Iranian-born actress Uldouz Wallace claimed the picture was reflective of the "current issue" in the country.

"I travelled to South Africa and this is a very current issue there, breaks my heart." 

Actor Milan Christopher said he had travelled to SA for a TV series and had seen similar incidents.

"This is exactly how it is. Presently I visited a school when I was filming a television series there this past summer and couldn't believe my eyes."

Local celebrities have also weighed in on the situation, with rapper Khuli Chana taking to Twitter to share his reaction to the image.

Next to the image he wrote: "This is bad!" 

Actress Pearl Thusi also questioned what was going on at the school.  "What the hell is going on here?!?"

Several political groups promised to protest at the school on Thursday, with parents ordered to fetch their children from the school in response.

"They said this is because there are people from political parties protesting outside the school," A parent told TimesLIVE.