A teacher embroiled in an alleged racist incident at Milnerton High School has been found guilty after a disciplinary hearing.
But the Western Cape Education Department refuses to disclose the sanction that deputy principal Iqbal Cassim, who faced charges of misconduct, was given.
Cassim allegedly forced a black pupil to bow to a fellow white pupil after they had a fight at at the school on February 8.
Several schools across the country have also been rocked by allegations of racism this year with incidents reported in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
The department’s spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the details of Cassim’s sanction would not be disclosed “in terms of the employees right to the protection of personal information“.
The incident sparked outrage among pupils, parents and ex-pupils.
In response pupils of all races staged a peaceful “anti-racism” protest, and took the knee on the sports field.
They also demanded that the school address the issue at the school assembly. However, Cassim did not show up.
The ANC’s spokesperson for education in the provincial legislature Khalid Sayed said his party would press for a detailed explanation on the disciplinary process and its outcome.
“We will raise this again in the provincial parliament. The provincial government needs to provide the public with a detailed response. They need to come clean and clear on the matter,” said Sayed.
He said the school was a public institution and the community including parents, and pupils would need to be told of the outcome.
“The matter cannot be left hanging in the air,” he added.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has not concluded its own investigation into the incident.
“We are now awaiting feedback from the provincial department of education on the disciplinary hearing.
“We are also in contact with the school for some information. Those are the only outstanding issues,” said the commission’s advocate Andre Gaum.
According to some pupils, Cassim “made an attempt” to apologise at a school assembly last week.
“It was feeble, very lame. He did not even make eye contact with us. It left some of us confused as to whether he was forced to do so or not,” said one pupil.
A parent expressed frustration and disappointment at the manner in which the school had handled the incident.
“There was no decency to take us into confidence that they were dealing with the issue in a manner that respected everyone.
“Instead there are still attempts to cover it up, and they think it will go away. It will not, especially when the deputy principal is being groomed to ascend to the throne of principal,” the parent said.
The alleged incidents of racism brought to the fore the need for transformation, gender and racial sensitivity at schools that were previously for a single race.
Hammond said the school would embark on workshops for teachers focused on transformation, diversity and inclusivity.
Diversity and inclusion specialist Hani du Toit regarded the move as “too little, too late” if the workshops were not part of something “enduring and deliberate”.
She added that stand-alone training days and guest speakers were insufficient to address the depth and scope of the issues of discrimination, micro-aggression and covert racism in schools.
“Our racial baggage as South Africans is not a past phenomenon. It is still part of our daily life, much as we deny it,” said Du Toit.
“While apartheid as a legal system has ended, racism is alive and well. This is evidenced by the quotas and catchment areas that still restrict access to many of these schools.”
Du Toit also noted that most schools that had engaged in diversity and inclusion workshops had done so in reaction to an incident, rather than as a leadership initiated strategy for creating a culture of belonging for every pupil and parent in their school community.
She added that even though school management teams and school governing bodies should be driving long-term sustainable transformation initiatives at their schools, guided by professionals in diversity and inclusion, the efforts should include parents, suppliers, pupils and alumni.
“These biases often sit in the blind spot of well-meaning educators, administrators and parents who have lived their lives in affinity bubbles, apparently unaware that their views and attitudes are all too often condescending, patronising and harmful,” she said.