Racist facebook comments – teacher sacked

The Mathematics teacher from Northern Academy, Tlou Molele was shown the door by Curro Holdings after they had finalised their investigation into postings made by Molele on social media in October referring to white people as a ‘genetic error called mutation’.
Molele also appeared before the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
Alhough the commission accepted his apology and only sanctioned him to ten hours of free Mathematics classes to disadvantaged learners and the attendance of an anti-racism outreach programme, his actions still cost him his job.
“We can confirm that Molele is no longer in the employ of Northern Academy. Curro views the content of the postings and the behaviour of this individual in a most serious light as social media activity, within Curro, is governed by a comprehensive internal policy which states that all persons using social media platforms made available on Curro information systems and its website shall adhere to the policy,” Curro Executive Head: Marketing and Communications Mari Lategan said.
In a media statement by Gushwell Brooks in the SAHRC’s communications office he was quoted saying that during a meeting convened by the commission to discuss the racist social media post, Molele expressed deep remorse. “Noting the high number of posts of this nature and the need to eradicate the fault lines premised on prejudice in society, the commission was of the view that penal sanctions were not an adequate measure for promoting respect for the Constitution. The commission stressed the values of the Constitution over and above the statutory protections our law offers, and impressed on the need to respect dignity, equality and freedom of people,” Brooks said.
He added that the Commission welcomed Molele’s unconditional apology and undertaking to refrain from similar conduct in the future. Molele undertook to participate in the Commission’s Anti-Racism Advocacy outreach activity in North West within three months and he also took the opportunity to demonstrate his civic commitment by donating ten hours of his own time to assist disadvantaged learners with Mathematics revision, according to Brooks.
Molele was suspended last month pending the investigation into his comment on the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) Facebook page in response to the ongoing #FeesMustFall campaign. Molele’s posting reportedly read as follows: “If it wasn’t for this generic error called mutation, the white f****s would have never existed. You are the original Mother f****s. We would not be in protest and s**t like this if you white f****s went back to your native lands. Do you even have a place of origin…?”

Story: RC Myburgh
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Featured photo: Tlou Molele.