School allegedly ‘rearranges kids’ after racially divided class pic goes viral

The Citizen reported yesterday that a photo of a class in which smiling white children can be seen at one table and, at the back of the class, there is another table with the class’s black children, had gone viral on social media, causing outrage in the process.

The photo is believed to be from Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke in the North West.

One of the Twitter users sharing the photo was popular parody account @AdvBarryRoux, who is updated by someone whose identity is unknown.

Today, @AdvBarryRoux posted another pic showing the same schoolchildren rearranged, seemingly with racial inclusivity in mind. This time around, they are seen at a racially mixed table working happily together.

READ MORE: Racially divided North West classroom causes outrage

The account claims the children were rearranged and the photo taken in response to the backlash with which the incident was met.

“After the first picture went viral. They rearranged the kids,” wrote the parody account in the tweet’s caption.

However, the photos in question appear to all have been taken on the same day, and misunderstood. Other explanations, particularly on Facebook, suggest that the children in the first photo arranged themselves in this way and that they were rearranged by the teacher, even before any outrage broke out on social media.

Here is the original and the second version together, for the sake of comparison. The faces have been blurred due to the Child Protection Act.

The Citizen spoke to a woman at Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke on Wednesday, who confirmed she knew about the photo and asked that we email the school questions. We have not yet received a response.

African News Agency, meanwhile, reported that North West education and sports development member of the executive council (MEC) Sello Lehari was expected to visit the school on Thursday.

He expressed shock and disappointment over the picture. The teacher has since been suspended while the investigation continues.

“On behalf of the department, I wish to condemn in its strongest terms any allegation of racism in our schools which contradict the constitution of our country. According to our South African constitution in Chapter Two, Bill of Rights, under education, it says ‘do not discriminate on the basis of race’,” Lehari said.

(Additional reporting by ANA)

Note: This story was updated with contextual information at 12.10pm.

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