Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and the Human Rights Commission (HRC) are probing allegations of racial and verbal abuse as well as discrimination at Waterloo House, a Wynberg Girls’ High School boarding house.
The WCED said it would investigate the “concerning allegations” as a priority, while the HRC said a complaint had been received.
“The Commission has received the complaint and it is currently being assessed,” the HRC told the Cape Argus on Monday.
“Following the assessment, should the complaint be deemed to fall within the mandate of the Commission, the complaint would be registered, allocated to a legal officer for investigation and investigated.”
Wynberg Girls’ pupils issued a statement (from “the pupils of Waterloo House”) which went viral on Monday morning.
The statement called on readers “out there to hear us”.
“We have been violated, broken repeatedly and we now feel hopeless.”
Spokeswoman for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, Jessica Shelver, said they noted the number of concerning allegations made and would send a district officer to deal with the issue.
Pupils demanded the house superintendent be removed as they claim she had destroyed their self-esteem by calling them names, was racist and told them inappropriate stories.
“She claims she has had more than five abortions, she claims that she used to be a drug addict and she claims she worships the devil,” the pupils’ statement reads.
“We want to be left to be children, we are not trained counsellors, these stories are traumatising.
“She called us bloody k******’ and has used the k-word when discussing us. She claims that we use it on each other and therefore should not be offended. We do not use this word at all. We demand a public apology and a criminal investigation. The era of apartheid rule is over and we are born free.
“She said we (black learners) will make the hostel unhygienic, because there are so many of us staying in, we wanted to stay in during the weekend to study for exams. We are not dirty.”
The pupils also claim the superintendent told staff members that some pupils had sexually transmitted infections.
“We demand a clear hostel code of conduct, applied fairly, we are all children, love us equally.
“She has vendettas against certain learners, she messes our rooms to teach us a lesson, shouts at us without provocation, calls us stupid and publicly shames us but only apologises privately.
“We have been stripped of our dignity.”
The superintendent is also accused of “slut-shaming” and handing out condoms to girls who did not ask for them and suggested a pupil had gone to the school’s astroturf to “engage in public sex”.
The statement continues: “She lies about girls to other staff members, she creates stories that are untrue, in order to further her own agenda to paint certain girls negatively and then tries to get rid of them.
“She told staff members that ALL learners from Masiphumelele had STIs (sexually transmitted diseases), this is not true. We demand that these vicious lies stop!”
The pupils have asked the school to address their concerns at a public meeting outside the boarding house on Friday.
School principal Shirley Harding said she had forwarded the girls’ statement to the WCED, asking it to intervene.
Cape Argus