Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is working with the police and Table View High School after 'impersonated' TikTok accounts posted the K-word on videos of black learners from the school.
In a statement released on Thursday, the WCED said it has been made aware of very disturbing social media accounts that contain racist commentary.
The accounts have been linked to a 15-year-old learner from Table View High School, and another in the name of the school.
“The WCED has engaged with the school and has confirmed that the learner’s account has allegedly been impersonated. The parents have submitted the learner’s phone to SAPS and have opened a case of defamation of character.”
“Arrangements are being made with a digital forensics company to get the content removed,” said WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.
The school has instructed a lawyer is also engaging with TikTok to get the fake school account taken down.
Hammond said: “They have submitted a legal letter, as well as an affidavit from the school confirming that the account was unlawfully registered in the name of the school.”
The videos that were posted on the TikTok account under the school’s name used racist commentary over videos of black learners.
In one of the videos where black learners from the school’s choir are singing, the video includes the caption: “From now i will be banning zulu in the choir and replace it with afrikaans as zulu is a k****r language (sic).”
Another video, which shows two pupils telling one another jokes, is captioned: “K****rs in our school can’t tell jokes”.
Hammond said: “The content is extremely offensive and unacceptable.”
“It is concerning that ’someone’ has allegedly impersonated an account of a child, and impersonated an account of the school which never existed, with the intention to maliciously sow seeds of division, hatred and racism, and cause harm to a minor and the integrity of this school.
“It is unacceptable that people are intentionally and maliciously wanting to stir unrest and racial tension.
“We will continue to engage with the school and SAPS. The WCED has released this information to enable accurate reporting on the matter.”
Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said: “Kindly be advised that a crimen injuria case was registered at Table View SAPS for investigation. The investigation continues.”
Cape Argus