Man who shone spotlight on Brackenfell private party lays intimidation charge

The Cape Town dad behind the Facebook post, which put the spotlight on a private party reportedly attended by only white Grade 12 pupils of Brackenfell High School, has laid a charge of intimidation after being tailed and threatened.

Ivan Simmers told News24 that, while he had been ignoring the umpteen threats he has received on WhatsApp and Facebook since denouncing what he believes was a racist event, he decided to involve the police after he was followed by a white Toyota on Friday.

Simmers said he was tailed from his home in Bellville to his child’s school and back home again.

He said he had stopped on the side of the road to confront the man behind the wheel, but the motorist had continued driving.

“I wanted to ask why he was following me. But these guys are cowards. They won’t come up to you and challenge you to your face. They hide,” Simmers said.

“The whole of last week, I have been receiving threats. I don’t care. They can do what they like. I said what I wanted to say.”

Also read: ‘Bring it on,’ says Malema as EFF prepares to ‘teach humility’ in Brackenfell

Simmers said he posted about the event on Facebook after it came to his attention via pupils who attend primary school with his daughter.

On 1 November, he shared the YouTube link to a video of the party, which now requires permission to be viewed on the video-sharing platform.

Over 150 comments followed.

As word spread and the event gained traction on social media, those who accused him of sowing dissent started posting his photo, business details and contact information.

“The abuse was incredible: people threatening my life, my livelihood and my family. Threatening phone calls, thinly veiled social messages, boycotting my business,” Simmers said.

He was also aware of WhatsApp messages, in which people from the neighbourhood discuss “what they would do if they find [him]”, with one of the threats reading that they should “skiet hom vrek”, Simmers said.

But he is unapologetic about becoming embroiled in the saga.

“It’s 26 years after supposed democracy, but our children are still being [racially] abused,” Simmers said.

“And I don’t blame the kids. I blame the parents, teaching them this racist stuff.”

Also read: SAHRC investigating racial exclusion allegation at Brackenfell High

On Tuesday morning alone, Simmers said he had received 10 missed calls from private numbers, which he chooses not to answer.

“I also got two messages, one calling me a ‘gemors’ and another saying that they ‘will get [me]’,” he said.

He passed this information on to the police.

Provincial spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that an intimidation case had been opened at the Bellville police station and that an investigation was under way.

Less than a week ago, former Brackenfell High School pupil Siya Ntuntwana, 22, also laid charges after receiving death threats.

He had been on the receiving end of vitriolic attacks after speaking out about his own experience of discrimination and racism at his alma mater, from which he matriculated in 2016.

The former first team rugby and cricket player had worn his Old Boys’ uniform as he spoke about being called the k-word and being exposed to both overt and covert racism.

He recalled that, during class discussions, teachers would say things like “South Africa was in a better position in apartheid than it is now”, or he would be referred to as “you people”.

Violence broke out near the school last Monday as fists flew when the EFF in the Western Cape attempted to stage a protest.

The party was demanding that two teachers who attended a private event be suspended from the school.

The party was attended by a number of white Grade 12 pupils after the school cancelled its official matric ball due to Covid-19.

Following the brawl, which saw six EFF supporters injured and a bakkie bearing a picture of party leader Julius Malema’s face damaged, one suspect was arrested for firing an airgun during the confrontation.

Jaco Pretorius, 38, from Protea Heights, was arrested on a charge of public violence. He was released on a warning after appearing in the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court, where the matter was postponed to 25 January 2020.

Dr Guillaume Smit, the chairperson of Brackenfell High’s School governing body, had told News24 it did not condone the violence which played out on Monday and had written to parents urging them to “not get involved”.

“Those people who took part in that are residents, not parents,” he said.

The school governing body had applied for an urgent interdict to stop the EFF from protesting against racism in the roads surrounding the school, but it was denied by Judge Siraj Desai in the Western Cape High Court last Tuesday.

On Monday, it was postponed to 2 December as the matter was not ready for hearing.

Meanwhile, one of the mothers who planned the event told local newspaper TygerBurger it had initially been organised for her daughter and her friends at a private venue. It had been extended to other pupils – including children of colour – as there had been space for more attendees.

Tickets had been sold on a first come, first served basis, she said, and only 42 of the 260 attended the function, while the others were from other schools and partners who had already completed their schooling.

A black matric pupil had reportedly confirmed to the publication he had received an invitation, but declined to go as his parents would not have been able to purchase a ticket or hire a suit. He also had “something on that day”.

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