Cape Town - Racism at schools is systemic and remains widespread, the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) noted as it hosted a dialogue on the issue in Cape Town yesterday.
The SAHRC’s Western Cape office convened and facilitated the engagement, placing learners, parents, teachers, principals, and other key stakeholders around the same table to assess the prevalence of racism at Western Cape schools, and how to address this in a transformative manner.
The dialogue, which also included representatives from the Department of Basic Education, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), civil society and experts on education, anti-racism, diversity and inclusion, took place at the Southern Sun Hotel.
SAHRC national commissioner focusing on education, justice and anti-racism, professor Tshepo Madlingozi, said the issue of racism within schools is systemic and widespread, and not limited to Western Cape schools.
“As a commission, we do get a lot of complaints from parents, from other teachers anonymously whistle-blowing, from the media also coming to us.
“Some of the cases, for example here in the Western Cape, are cases that are own accord investigation, meaning that we are the ones who chose to investigate because we’re allowed to also do that.
“We are proactive, we don’t want to wait when we can see there’s an issue.”
The SAHRC monitors investigations done by the department and the schools in order to ensure the procedure is fair and the process ‘real’ and geared towards changing the culture at the school, and not just addressing an individual incident, Madlingozi said.
Madlingozi said he was encouraged by the session and will propose that it be replicated in other provinces.
SAHRC Western Cape manager, Zena Nair, said the commission was dealing with three matters concerning Western Cape schools at present.
One involved two schools at a sporting event in which monkey sounds were made; an incident at Pinelands High School involving several learners; and an incident at Table View High School involving a teacher.
In July, a Table View High School substitute history teacher was accused of using the K-word during a lesson with grade 12 learners.
That same month, learners at Pinelands High School landed in hot water after “selling” their black classmates at a mock slave auction.
In May, the sporting relationship between Rondebosch and Paarl Boys’ High schools came into jeopardy after monkey noises and gestures were reportedly aimed towards Rondebosch hockey players during a derby.
WCED spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, said it was the role of the school to handle disciplinary matters involving learners, and for the WCED, to ensure as far as possible, that schools and SGBs are properly trained and equipped to deal with such matters.
Cases involving teachers follow a different process in terms of disciplinary procedures, with reported incidents investigated by the Labour Relations directorate.
“Many of our WCED schools have taken this matter very seriously and have for years addressed inequalities, injustices and prejudices in their schools.
“While these actions are welcomed, the reality is that our learners remain part of a broader environment and are constantly observing or are witness to certain biases that are expressed, intentionally or not, at home, on social media or while socialising with their friends. It is not just a ‘school’ issue, but a societal issue,” Hammond said.
Cape Argus