Eastern Cape - An East London woman claims she has been discriminated against by a staff member at Southernwood Primary because of her political affiliation, it was reported on Tuesday.
“A woman came to me to tell me that the reason my child doesn’t have a school is because I vote for the (African National Congress) and the ANC doesn’t build schools,” Zusake Javu told the Dispatch Online.
“She said ANC supporters are still going to suffer because our president is busy building Nkandla instead of schools. She then said if we had voted for the (Democratic Alliance) we would have a school.”
Javu claimed the remarks were made by a Mrs Devon, whom she believed was a deputy principal at the school, when she had tried to enrol her child last week.
However, the school's principal, Mike Kockott, denied the allegation and told the Dispatch Online that Javu was “either confused, exaggerating or simply mistaken”.
Kockott said there was no staff member by that name, and that he did not have a deputy.
Javu reportedly said she was told the school was full when she tried to enrol her daughter in Grade R last year. This year, when she tried to enrol her daughter in Grade One, she was told the child could only be admitted to Grade R.
“About 90 percent of our children are black and their admission is definitely not based on which party their parents vote for,” Kockott told the Dispatch Online.
He said the school had a space problem and that many parents left in tears because it could not accept their children. - Sapa