SAHRC report on school protests highlights racial tensions in Eldorado Park

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) announced yesterday it had released its report looking into the recent protests at Klipspruit West High School in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, after a black principal was appointed.

The report zones in on what it sees as racial tension in the Eldorado Park community, coming to the conclusion that the Klipspruit protests were racially motivated and point to wider racial tensions in the community as a whole.

“It is the commission’s finding that the rejection of a black school principal was racially motivated,” said SAHRC commissioner Andre Gaum.

According to the SAHRC, “the purpose of the hearing was to investigate issues relating to disruption of teaching and learning, allegations of racism, marginalisation, inequality, and excessive use of force during service delivery protests”.

READ MORE: Gauteng education dept disappointed at Klipspruit West protest

The report found that while the protests were racially motivated, the so-called coloured people of Eldorado park are struggling with a genuine sense of marginalisation, with a feeling of being left out of the economy and neglected by government, fueling unrest.

These findings were influenced by submissions by the Greater Eldorado Park United Civic Association.

Representatives of the community, however, are unhappy with the report, with SABC reporting that Greater Eldorado Park Business Forum spokesperson, Charis Pretorius, will formally challenge the report, which she said showed a lack of understanding of the community’s issues.

The Klipspruit protests took place in August, 2017.

The Gauteng department of education (GDE) said at the time it was disappointed by the protest action against the appointment of a black principal at the school.

During an interview on eNCA, GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said on their visit to the Klipspruit West community, the department told them an investigation would be conducted to find out whether indeed the appointment process was indeed flawed.

“We are very disappointed, we have said, give us an opportunity to look at whether the process went well or not. They are not helping the situation.”

Residents of the Klipspruit township barricaded entrances to the area with burning tyres and torched a Putco bus.

The African News Agency reported at the time that the community said they did not want a black principal and that the appointment process had been tampered with, which has led to a coloured candidate not getting the position.

“This community is going parallel to us (the GDE). We have interacted with some community members, and they went to stabilise the situation, but law enforcement has been deployed as well,” Mabona said.

“We condemn the disruption, we are preparing for preliminary examination so it is crucial that disruption ends.”

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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