Pretoria High School for Girls suspends 12 learners amid racism allegations; DBE investigates staff inaction

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
25 July 2024 | 12:44 p.m. SAST
1-minute read

Image: Awonke Fernandez

Twelve learners have been suspended from the Pretoria High School for girls following allegations of racism.

Members from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) visited the school to find out more information after learners alleged that the girls had set up a WhatsApp group to talk about them.

“It’s quite sad. In this day and age, we are still talking about racism, when we should be talking development, because our schools are developmental institutions,” Steve Mabona, spokesperson for the Gauteng DBE said in an interview on Radio Islam International.

A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for 30 and 31 July 2024, after which the student governing body will decide on the best course of action.

Additional allegations were levelled at some school staff, including the principal and some teachers, for not acting on the reports. The DBE’s decision on these allegations is pending the outcome of the current investigation.

Mabona said that diversity programs had been implemented at the school in 2016 to foster tolerance after an incident of a similar nature occurred.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Habib Bobat here.

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