MEC disgusted by racist graffiti at Limpopo school, matrics refuse to go to class

Limpopo Education MEC Polly Boshielo has “reacted with disgust to reports of a racist incident” at Hoërskool Ben Viljoen in Groblersdal.

On Thursday, some matric pupils at the school refused to return to class after seeing racially offensive graffiti in boys’ toilets.

A screenshot of what is claimed to be the remark has been distributed on social media. It seemingly read: “Of course Black Lives Matter a Dead slave is useless (sic).”

The school’s deputy principal, John Smith, told News24 on Friday that they were consulting with the provincial education department about the matter and said he was not prepared to comment beyond what the school had written in its statement, which was posted on Facebook.

In the statement, the school condemned the incident, saying it had become aware that someone had written a “comment with a negative connotation” on the wall of one of its toilet booths in the boys’ cloak room.

The comment was removed immediately and an investigation had already been started, the school said.

The Limpopo education department had since been in contact with the school to support the investigations and to provide psychosocial services to affected members of the school community, said Boshielo.

“The incident is viewed in serious light and condemned in the strongest possible terms.

“Racism is an unwelcome behaviour that should never be allowed to rear its ugly head in our schools and thus our undeterred determination to get to the bottom of this.

“We cannot afford to look away when such prejudice occurs in our schools. We call for calm and cooperation from stakeholders as we work towards resolving this matter speedily and creating a safe environment for our children to learn,” said Boshielo.

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