*Story has been updated
DURBAN - THE Department of Education has taken over the investigation into the two Maritzburg College pupils who brandished EFF T-shirts at the school on Friday, the department said.
The pupils will now be probed, along with their school, by a team of investigators from the department as there are claims of racism against the school.
The department said the outcome of the investigation would determine if further steps would need to be taken against the pupils.
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KZN Education spokesperson Sihle Mlotshwa said on Tuesday that the department was in the process of appointing investigators.
“The department is handling the matter. The school cannot be the one handling it because there are claims against it as well. The investigators will be looking at claims of racism against the school and also the matter about the pupils who were photographed with political T-shirts.
“There are many things we will be looking at such as freedom of expression and how the matter was handled by the school from the beginning," said Mlotshwa.
The Pietermaritzburg-based all boys public school finds itself at the centre of a probe on alleged racism at the school. Earlier this year, one of the T-shirt brandishing pupils was allegedly called the k-word by another prefect at the school. The prefect was allegedly not stripped of any leadership roles at the school.
And in the picture that went viral, three boys were carrying T-shirts in support of South Africa’s third largest political party, the EFF, which read: “EFF: our last hope of getting the land back” and “loading 2019”.
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The school had charged them on Friday evening for contravening the schools act, social media policy and school code of conduct. The picture had been taken earlier on Friday on the matric class of 2017's final school day before final exams.
The school said it would release a statement when approached for comment on Tuesday.