Department of Education Involvement
The acting education department has given Pretoria Girls High School’s School Governing Body (SGB) time to investigate allegations of racism and the school’s inadequate response to these claims.
Incident Overview
The issue began with a series of WhatsApp chats involving racist comments about black pupils at the school. These chats led to students raising concerns about discrimination.
Student Reactions
Two pupils, Lai Monang and Kamani, detailed their experiences. They received screenshots of the offensive WhatsApp messages on a Wednesday and attempted to address the issue with the principal and deputy principal the next morning. However, they were dismissed and discouraged, being told that nothing would happen because similar issues had been ignored in 2016.
Peaceful Protest
Undeterred, the students planned a peaceful protest after school to draw attention to the issue. They initially considered protesting during the school day but decided it would be too disruptive.
Content of the WhatsApp Messages
The messages in the group chat included comments telling black students not to be angry about school rules, dismissing their grievances by saying apartheid ended a long time ago and they should move on. The messages also suggested that black students were overly emotional and that they already had enough privileges, such as the ability to dye their hair, implying they should be satisfied and stop complaining.
