School classroom. Picture: iStock
Yet another grade 12 pupil from Pretoria High School for Girls has been suspended amid claims of racism.
The matriculant’s suspension was confirmed by the Gauteng Department of Education on Wednesday after a video of her making statements with racial undertones circulated on social media.
The pupil reportedly recorded the video in February this year.
ALSO READ: Students suspended over Cape Town school ‘slave auction’
“The school governing body [SGB] suspended the learner today, and it will subsequently initiate a formal disciplinary process in due course.
“The Gauteng Department of Education is firmly committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all learners.
“We take incidents of this nature very seriously and will ensure that appropriate actions are taken to address and resolve the situation,” the provincial department’s statement reads.
Pretoria High School for Girls was recently rocked by fresh allegations of racism that led to 12 pupils facing disciplinary processes.
The pupils, eight of whom were prefects, were suspended last week after allegedly sharing offensive messages about black classmates on a WhatsApp group.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane on Tuesday also announced the precautionary suspension of the school’s principal.
READ MORE: Pretoria Girls High principal suspended amid racism probe
Chiloane revealed that the principal was suspended after it emerged that she failed to act on complaints of racism that were initially reported in 2023.
“While we are still busy with the disciplinary process, we have taken a decision to suspend the principal of the school up until we conclude this matter.
“We have appointed the deputy principal, one of the deputies, to come and act in the interim,” he said.
The MEC noted that some teachers were implicated.
“We are also looking at other educators as well. We’ll ask them to report to the district up until the investigation is done. I’m not going to mention any names, don’t ask me who,” he said.
Furthermore, Chiloane confirmed that some of the suspended pupils are in grade 12, which raises concerns about their upcoming preliminary examinations.
“Yes, I am worried that some of the learners are matriculants, but there should be programmes structured around how the learner is supported outside the process. It should be understood that there is always repercussions for actions.”
He added that there was “no need” for an independent body to handle the investigation, placing his trust in the school governing body (SGB) to manage the probe.
NOW READ: Curro’s racist incidents ‘can’t be ignored’ – psychologist
