An image of vandalism in the recently renamed Rietondale High School in Pretoria | Image: Twitter
Less than a month the Pretoria-based Höerskool Hendrik Verwoerd was officially renamed Rietondale High School by Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi, the school has suffered an act of vandalism.
Lesufi confirmed this by taking to Twitter and posting images of the vandalism which he said occurred over the weekend.
The school had earlier taken an independent decision to rename itself, but Lesufi’s announcement that he would be sanctioning the change saw him receive serious pushback from various Afrikaans interest groups and other sectors of society.
Speaking during the naming ceremony last month, Lesufi said: “This is for me a historic occasion as it opens a much-needed discussion about what we do with historic colonial and apartheid symbols as we build a new nation. Many will ask – why all the fuss? What is in a name? Should we not just go on with our lives? Some who ask these questions are doing so out of innocence. Yet some do so to protect old privileges.”
Lesufi said it was the department’s mission to reverse everything Verwoerd had done to South Africa’s education system and, in renaming the school, his department was removing one of the many offensive symbols of apartheid history.
“Verwoerd represents the most virulent form of apartheid euphemistically called ‘separate but equal’,” added Lesufi.
His followers immediately weighed in on who they believed was behind the act as well as what punishment they thought the vandals should suffer if they were caught.
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