Durban - A Grade 11 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School pupil - believed to have repeatedly used the word “k*****,” in two audio recordings which have now gone viral on social media - has been suspended.
The girl’s identity cannot be revealed because she is a minor but the Department of Education’s spokesperson, Kwazi Mthethwa, on Tuesday confirmed her suspension.
Mthethwa said any further disciplinary action would depend on what the investigation revealed.
“But our main aim is to correct her behaviour.
“She was not born racist, no one is. She has picked up this kind of language from somewhere,” he said.
Mthethwa also said the department was going to broaden its investigation and probe allegations that this was not an isolated incident.
The recordings sparked an outcry on social media.
One Twitter user said: “Maybe now they’ll actually address the constant issue of racism at that school since it’s affecting something they care about. Qhubekani.”
In another post she said: “I remember, in 2015, a yt girl in grade 11 then, said black girls don’t need an education to be maids. What was done about that konje? Lol! (sic)”
Another Twitter user and pupil at the school, said: “We writing exams. Teachers went around to every class telling girls to calm down. Apparently they said she was stressed and confused.”
Mthethwa also said the department was looking into this.
Meanwhile, a petition - calling for the school governing body to take action against the girl allegedly involved, and racism in general - has been created.
Those behind it want:
* The girl to issue an unreserved, public apology, “in writing as well as in front of the whole school at assembly”.
* The girl to be banned from taking up any leadership positions at the school.
* The school houses to be renamed in honour of “South African women who were involved in the struggle against apartheid”.
* A zero-tolerance anti-racism policy to be implemented, with a transparent process for reporting racist incidents at the school.
* Pupils being admitted to the school to be made to attend a compulsory course on race relations in South Africa, “covering things such as the history behind the use of the k-word, the constitution and the necessity of transformation in an unequal society”.
Pupils at the school have planned a silent protest on Friday.
In the first of the recordings at the root of the furore, the girl says: “I’m so offended right now. F****** k****** don’t know how to pronounce my name. Yoh they going to get it from me on Monday. You don’t dare put me on that (sic)”.
In the second she says: “But at the end of the day I still have to put up with this whole flipping grade. Flipping k****** not knowing how to flipping spell and pronounce my name. ’Cos you’re not in my shoes right now.”
The recordings were circulated on various social media platforms and it is understood the rant was spurred by someone on the Spring Ball committee for the Grade 11s misspelling the girl’s name.
The school governing body has issued a statement condemning the language used and stating it has a “zero-tolerance” policy on racism.