Another Pietermaritzburg school has found itself at the centre of a racism storm.
This time Maritzburg College – a prestigious, all-boys high school – is under fire after a matric prefect apparently twice called black students at the school “k******”.
According to Eyewitness News, the matriculant was apparently suspended for one week, after which he was allowed to resume his leadership roles.
It is understood that the incidents occurred around three months ago.
But in response to the recent uproar on social media, Maritzburg College has since posted on its official Facebook site that proper processes – in accordance with the South African Schools’ Act – were followed.
“The incident was fully investigated and both sets of parents were involved in the process,” the school said in a statement.
“Appropriate punishment – including counselling and community service – was given, and both pupils have accepted this”.
The school said those at Maritzburg College celebrated their “diversity and inclusivity”.
“And we abhor any form of racism – as we do any other serious matters reported to us,” the statement read.
Executive committee member David Rogers told The Mercury that he could not comment on the matter except to say that the issue had been taken “in a serious light”.
“And there were sanctions imposed,” he said.
Social media users responded angrily to the incidents, among them renowned DJ, Thato “DJ Fresh” Sikwane.
DJ Fresh took to Twitter and said: “Because 94 happened does not mean kids raised racist in the 70s and 80s have not passed that s*** on to their kids! #Sad #MaritzburgCollege”.
He was also one of many to criticise the school’s handling of the incident.
“If #MaritzburgCollege are serious about tackling racism, they will take meaningful action and not hide behind #SchoolsAct slap on wrist BS!” he said.
Last week, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School was also rocked by a racism scandal after audio recordings were widely circulated on social media in which a girl, purported to be a Grade 11 pupil, repeatedly uses the word “k******”.
She has since been suspended.
The Department of Education’s Kwazi Mthethwa said yesterday the MEC was very concerned about the racist incidents.
He said the Schools Act did give a school powers to suspend a pupil for a minimum of five days, and that an investigation was meant to be carried out and a report compiled.
Mthethwa said they took a decision on whether or not to extend a pupil’s suspension based on that report.
“We’ve observed that some schools have a tendency to defend kids who seem to be racist, and some of them don’t send those reports to head office, which is wrong because we want to know what’s happening on the ground, and they’re expected to report to us about these incidents,” he said.
Mthethwa said the department was going to touch base with the deputy director general and follow up on the Maritzburg College incident.
He said the fact that it had not been reported meant somewhere along the line someone was trying to hide it.
The Mercury