An elite Girls School in Cape Town has come under scrutiny following allegations of racism. This comes after a social media campaign, in which former pupils revealed incidents of racism, prompted the school to conduct an investigation.
Two teachers at a top Cape Town school have been fired following allegations of racism. This comes after Herschel Girls School concluded an independent inquiry into systemic racism there.
The investigation was sparked by an anti-racism campaign on social media. Now, a group of past and present parents and pupils is calling on the school to release the findings of its investigations.
The school has since issued a statement in which it said that the investigation, which involved several lawyers, was thorough, leading to robust recommendations as well as the implementation of various measures.
The school further stated that it would refrain from sharing legal reports with the public and that it hopes that this will not impact the confidence in the school’s ability to deal with the issue.
However, the group of former and current students and parents don’t see this as justifiable and want the documents shared with the public.
What we expected from the school was immediate action from the school that said, we know who perpetrated, what systems and processes allowed them to continue to do, that allowed them to continue to hide in anonymity while these girls are still suffering.
Former pupil and Ex council member, Tebogo Skwamane also pointed out that the school has not done enough to protect the women who were the victims of these incidents.
The group has since filed an application using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in an effort to try and force the school to publish all three reports.
It has further been reported that the investigations have resulted in a number of policy changes to bring transformation at the school as well as a review of school governance such as the appointment and educational workshops for teachers.
