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[Update] Pretoria High School for Girls Twitter debate escalates
Update #4, 30 August, 10.55am: After the trending hashtags, the media coverage and social commentary, the Pretoria High School for Girls petition has garnered over 24 000 signatures.
The school’s governing body also issued a statement after meeting with Gauteng MEC of education, Panyaza Lesufi.
“The School Governing Body has held a successful meeting with the MEC for Education in Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, with regard to recent events,” the statement reads.
“He has called for calm and the resumption of normal teaching and learning at the school.”
“The School Governing Body will be working closely with the Gauteng Department of Education in the coming weeks to resolve the issues which were raised,” it concludes.
Lesufi has also suspended the school’s code of conduct regarding hairstyles, he announced on Twitter.
We’ve suspended the Code of Conduct https://t.co/ayHMcT7juo
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) August 30, 2016
“The element of the code of conduct that deals specifically with hairstyles will be suspended immediately,” he confirmed with Times Media.
“None of the learners who reported the prevalence of racial or emotional abuse at this school will be intimidated or be charged,” he adds.
Lawson Brown High School: the latest conversation starter
Principal at Lawson Brown High School Donovan Cairncross apologises to students. #LawsonBrownHighSchool #SabcNews pic.twitter.com/BdeIH3BtRu
— Jayed- leigh Paulse (@JayedLeigh) August 30, 2016
In light of Khaya Dlanga’s tweet last night, and the subsequent statement by Lawson Brown High School’s principal, Donovan Caincross, #LawsonBrownHighSchool started trending on Twitter in South Africa’s major cities late Tuesday morning.
Videos of students demanding an apology from the school’s principal also set the social platform alight.
Unbelievable scenes at #LawsonBrownHighSchool students are demanding an apology from the principle @AfriNewsAgency pic.twitter.com/DftWDYpWbe
— Raahil Sain (@raahil_sain) August 30, 2016
A large group of students up in arms over alleged racism at #LawsonBrownHighSchool @AfriNewsAgency pic.twitter.com/Iy9o5r1SUY
— Raahil Sain (@raahil_sain) August 30, 2016
Update #3, 29 August, 6.29pm: The petition that started the Pretoria High School for Girls debate has now garnered over 19 000 signatures.
Additionally, it seems that the incident at Pretoria High School for Girls isn’t isolated at all. News emerged late Monday of another high school in Port Elizabeth that’s also enforcing rules on “girls with afros”.
The tweet, uncovered by author Khaya Dlanga, was posted two days ago by a Lawson Brown High School student.
It’s happening everywhere #LawsonBrownHighSchool pic.twitter.com/I8eKlEhgLg
— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) August 29, 2016
Soon after Dlanga tweeted the post, #LawsonBrownHighSchool began trending in South African cities. #PretoriaGirlsHigh is another common hashtag making the rounds in South Africa at the time of writing.
Update #2, 29 August, 4.17pm: Radio 702 presenter John Robbie came under fire on Twitter for comments made towards the Pretoria High School for Girls racism debate.
Former scholar speaks out against racism in #StopRacismInPretoriaGirlsHigh
Read here: https://t.co/2Tdo0FA1u8 @702JohnRobbie— 702 (@Radio702) August 29, 2016
In a radio interview with The Daily Vox’s Mishka Wazar, Robbie suggested that school pupils should abide by rules, and that the school cannot be judged as being racist based on that alone.
Twitter didn’t take kindly to the comments, with the likes of former 5FM presenter Anele Mdoda and comedian Siv Ngesi calling out Robbie on the network.
Dear @702JohnRobbie , I am a black man and I don’t have the balls to comment or tell black women how to wear their hair! But you know best!
— Siv Ngesi (@iamSivN) August 29, 2016
Google professional hairstyles and see what is deemed professional and non professional if you want to know what we deal with. @johnrobbie
— Anele Mdoda (@Anele) August 29, 2016
Then try,just try to see how damaging it can be to us emotionally to be raised made to believe that straight hair is best @johnrobbie
— Anele Mdoda (@Anele) August 29, 2016
Draw your own conclusions by listening to the interview snippet below.
Update #1, 29 August, 2.12pm: New information surfaced Monday afternoon from a pupil’s guardian at Pretoria High School for Girls.
Lebo Madiba Lokotwayo, first spotted by Times Media, took to Facebook to voice the sequence of events leading up to the petition and social media outcry:
“I’m a parent at Pretoria High School for Girls and I say #NotInOurName,” she begins.
The issue at Pretoria High School for Girls is not just about hair. It is just plain racism.
The girl with the uncontrollable hair gave a speech in class about employment in South Africa. She gave a comparison of the politics of employment pre- and post-apartheid‚ she highlighted the ills of apartheid and the role of trade unions.
Her speech was interrupted; she was taken to the headmaster’s office and was threatened with suspension.
When her parents fought the suspension‚ they used the school’s hair regulations against her. Her hair is uncontrollable! Her mother is black (Zulu) and her father is Indian. Doesn’t that just make her proudly South African? She represents everything that is beautiful about this country.
Her post has been shared over 1100 times on Facebook at the time of writing.
The EFF weighs in
South Africa’s third most popular political party, the EFF, has also released a statement written by party spokesperson Fana Mokoena.
A petition to investigate claims of racism and discrimination at Pretoria High School for Girls has accrued over 24 000 signatures
The party “applauds the young black women who protested against their school for their racist practices,” Mokoena explains.
“The girls are not allowed to wear their hair naturally‚ in fact they are forced to straighten it; and their indigenous languages are suppressed.”
Original article: Pretoria High School for Girls’ staff are facing a slew of social media backlash this morning, after news emerged that black students were instructed to straighten their hair.
After news broke late Sunday, a petition set up on Amandla Awethu quickly gained traction, asking Gauteng MEC of education Panyaza Lesufi to investigate the school’s senior management and policies. The petition — which is addressed to Lesufi, and Pretoria High’s headmistress Mrs K du Toit — questions the school’s code of conduct, and staff policies against discrimination.
We the undersigned call on you to take swift action to ensure that:
– The school’s code of conduct does not discriminate against Black and Muslim girls;
– Disciplinary action against teachers and other staff members implementing any racist policy and/or racist actions
– Protection for the learners who protested to ensure they will not be victimised.
The petition also revealed the current sentiment of students within the school.
“Right now, learners at Pretoria High school are demanding that racist practices at the school are brought to an end. Girls attending the school have been forced to straighten their hair; are accused of conspiring when standing in groups and face other intolerable comments and action,” the petition reads.
‘Learners at Pretoria High school are demanding that racist practices at the school are brought to an end’
At the time of writing, the petition garnered over 11 000 signatures of its 15 000 goal.
Google Search traffic also saw marked search spikes for “Pretoria” and “Pretoria High School for Girls” within the past day.
Twitter joins in support of Pretoria High students
The petition and resultant search traffic weren’t the only things spiking in South Africa’s digital spheres though.
Twitter users, armed with the hashtag #stopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh began discussing the incident late Sunday. The hashtag began trending on Twitter in many of South Africa’s major cities Monday morning.
Late last night, Lesufi was asked to address concerned Twitter users. He noted that the investigation was set in motion, largely thanks to the petition:
Leave it with me. There’s a petition directed to me with demands. Hence my intervention https://t.co/kIMKxuo33C
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) August 28, 2016
I am fully aware. Now that we’ve sorted their admission policies the next task is the single language privilege https://t.co/qrzYdwGMrK
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) August 28, 2016
Leave that with me and my team. It will be done. We won’t disappoint https://t.co/6K61iz0fOq
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) August 28, 2016
Let’s call it a day! I have an early morning engagement. Thanks for the support #stopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) August 28, 2016
That wasn’t the end of it though.
Twitter users, who weren’t engaged in the conversation the night before, posted selfies in protest, while others aired their views towards racism in South African schools:
One of the first places racism has to removed is in schools. Children shouldn’t have to be fighting this. #stopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh
— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) August 28, 2016
#StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh A small group of former students and parents have gathered outside the school. pic.twitter.com/aw8OFtv9fj
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) August 29, 2016
Some superheroes don’t wear capes, they proudly wear their natural hair. #stopracismatpretoriagirlshigh pic.twitter.com/v4qFJC8hPj
— Babes WoDono (@DonovanGoliath) August 29, 2016
A dedicated account, @StopRacismPHSG was also set up after the news broke. Images of protests from the school’s students quickly infiltrated Twitter timelines across the nation:
the silence has been broken#StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh pic.twitter.com/chkXktaRXu
— StopRacismGirlsHigh (@StopRacismPHSG) August 28, 2016
Look up the intersection of COURAGE & FREEDOM and you’ll see this face 👉🏾 #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh pic.twitter.com/IrIq7xQo9A
— Vusi Thembekwayo (@VusiThembekwayo) August 28, 2016
Instagram shares its story
Instagram also saw footage of the protest on its platform:
A video posted by Palesa Sedibe (@palii_sedibe) on
Currently, the hashtag continues to trend on South Africa’s Twitter domain Monday. You can follow a rolling list of updates below:
#stopracismpretoriagirlshigh Tweets
Developing…
