Teacher in hot water for picketing

Newcastle's Ferrum High School. Photo: Doctor Ngcobo

Newcastle's Ferrum High School. Photo: Doctor Ngcobo

Published Jul 4, 2012

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A teacher who led a noisy picket outside Newcastle’s Ferrum High School after her daughter and another pupil were fed baby food laced with saliva, is in trouble, according to a report on Wednesday.

The KwaZulu-Natal education department would discipline Ferrum's Zulu and history teacher for participating in the picket, the Witness reported.

Departmental spokesman Muzi Mahlambi said appropriate action would be taken against her.

She had alleged that racism was behind an initiation ceremony for new members of the school’s netball team, masterminded by two white pupils.

A departmental investigation established that the incident was not racially motivated and recommended that she be disciplined for arranging and participating in the demonstration.

Parents blew vuvuzelas and chanted outside the school gate.

The department report found that a third potential victim was a white pupil who was absent on the day.

It also found that the two perpetrators were not aware of her not being at school and that pupils of all races had been present when the bottles had been spat into.

“There is no objective basis to conclude that the spitting was racially motivated,” read the report.

The investigation further recommended that all initiation practices at Ferrum be stopped. – Sapa

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