Cape Town - The hostel superintendent at the centre of allegations of racial abuse at Wynberg Girls’ High School has been put on special leave as pupils staged a protest at the school’s Waterloo boarding house.
The pupils this week made claims of being racially and verbally abused by the house superintendent. The Western Cape Department of Education is investigating the allegations.
Pupils at yesterday’s protest, which was attended by members of #FeesMustFall, had demanded an update on the investigation from the school’s principal, Shirley Harding.
One Grade 10 pupil, who did not want to be named, said she felt “disrespected” by the school. “Our principal was supposed to issue a public statement, but all she did was deliver one line; all she said was the department is looking into it. Thank you. Bye’.
“We’ve made it very clear in our statement that we want our demands to be addressed. I feel disrespected right now. I feel hopeless and it makes me sad that we have to go to such extremes to be heard.”
Pupils have blasted the school on social media for an apparent “lack of compassion” and “utter complacency”.
The spokeswoman for Education MEC Debbie Schafer, Jessica Shelver, said the department’s circuit manager had been interacting with the pupils all of this week.
Shelver said the department could not provide a timeline for the conclusion of the investigation “as this is a thorough process that will involve interviewing all parties involved”.
“We also have to get permission from learners’ parents before we can interview them. Interviews began on Wednesday but reaching some of the parents has been a challenge,” Shelver said.
Pupils at the protest alleged the suspended superintendent had used racial slurs “more than once” and claimed there had been incidents of racial and verbal abuse dating back several years.
A pupil said up until this week she had not informed her parents for fear of victimisation. “I’ve never raised the issues with my mom because I know how mad she gets. And at that stage (earlier this year) I was afraid of speaking out because I was afraid that my mother was going to go to her (the superintendent) and my identity was going to be exposed.
“We’ve raised our complaints with the school, but they're doing nothing about it.”
Weekend Argus