Cape Town - An Atlantis learner has been suspended for allegedly calling a fellow pupil the k-word.
Parent Liyema Stephans said racism incidents have been swept under the carpet previously at Robinvale High School, and she demanded justice for her son in Grade 10.
“The four black learners were about to attend a class and they were walking in a group when the coloured learner said in Afrikaans ‘look at the k*****s, they are modelling’ and then that learner hid among other learners.
“My child was very upset and when he told me about this, I could see that he was hurt by the insults.
“It took a week for a principal to suspend the learner, just because I stood up for it, but the incident was reported the same day and it was ignored by the principal of the school.
“This thing of our children being called racist names does not sit well with me at all. We will be meeting with the School Governing Body (SGB) to discuss the racism issue at the school,” said Stephans.
The school was unable to respond to requests for comment by the Cape Times last week.
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said they were not made aware about the matter until a query from the media.
Following the media query, the principal confirmed that an alleged racial incident had taken place.
“The alleged perpetrator has been suspended and the SGB are meeting to discuss the disciplinary process going forward.
“Counselling support to the alleged victim will be made available.
“The WCED condemns any form of racism or any prejudice and embraces inclusivity.
“Learners and educators are encouraged to report racism or discrimination, of any form, to the department if not being addressed appropriately by the school management. We have and will intervene where necessary and will continually address these matters until we eradicate them from all schools,” said Hammond.
“In terms of section 9 of the SA Schools Act , a governing body of a school conducts disciplinary hearings against a learner. The sanction, following due process, is guided by the school’s code of conduct. The sanction could include further suspension, a recommendation for expulsion or a restorative justice approach may be followed,” she said.
Witsand community activist Phathiswa Nokrayo said racism played out among children as learned behaviour.
“We are not happy about the incident and children need to be taught about racism, how bad it is. We also want the school to immediately attend to racism issues when addressed to the office. We want our children to learn good things, not bad things such as racism, and think that it is cool to be racist,” said Nokrayo.
Cape Times