Principal in the hot seat due to allegations of racism

The roads leading to Liverpool Secondary School, Actonville, were closely guarded when parents and learners staged a march calling for the immediate dismissal of the principal today.

Tensions mounted after a fight broke out at the school on February 25, with mainly coloured and black learners clashing.

According to Ward 29 Clr Imtiaaz Loonat, it is not yet clear what sparked the fight. However, community leaders, the police, the Student Governing Body (SGB) and faculty are investigating the matter.

“Thus far, 14 learners have been identified as being involved in the altercation and have been suspended pending a formal disciplinary hearing,” he said.

“Given the gravity of the incident, parents and learners were mobilised to march to the school to hand over a memorandum of their grievances, which includes alleged racism.”

Addressing the parents and learners, community leader Mpini Mabotha said that matters pertaining to racism
were ignored by the principal, Naveen Ramsunder and the SGB for a long time.

“The manner in which coloured learners and black learners are disciplined shows a clear bias toward coloured learners,” said Mabotha.

“Indian and coloured learners are escorted from the school grounds, yet our black learners are left to their own devices. They are often threatened with violence due to the lack of support from the school when they leave the premises.”

Guarding the school’s entrance, a former parent at the school, Natasha Coetzer, says there are clear racial and economic divides in the school, and many learners are marginalised.

“The manner in which learners are disciplined should be universal,” said Coetzer.

“Matters such as these have a huge impact on the school’s overall academic performance. This must be addressed as a matter of urgency so that learners and teachers can concentrate on education.”

Accepting the memorandum of grievances outside the school, Ekurhuleni North district director Nonceba Ntuta thanked the parents for maintaining calm throughout the march and being disciplined in airing their concerns.

“The overall performance of the school is of concern to us. Since the beginning of the year, we have been engaging with the SGB and management to address the matter,” said Ntuta.

“We will launch an investigation regarding the matters raised here and report back within 14 days to make our findings public.

“While we are fulfilling our duties, let the children return to school to continue learning.”

She concluded by saying that calls for the SGB to be dissolved and the principal removed from his position will be investigated and, where necessary, corrective steps will be taken.

Ramsunder declined to comment.

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