Judge slams WCED’s race row findings

HIGH COURT Judge Siraj Desai has taken issue with the investigation by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) which found no racial discrimination with regards to a matric dance held by Brackenfell High pupils, which sparked protests by the EFF.

The School Governing Body (SGB) is seeking an interdict to prevent the EFF from protesting near the school, but the case has been postponed several times. Judge Desai postponed the case to December 22 for judgment.

At yesterday’s hearing, the judge said that he did not understand why the school or department had not attempted to resolve the matter in a more amicable and sensitive manner.

“In my opinion, the first thing the school and the department should have done was to immediately suspend the educators involved and launch an impartial independent inquiry. That would have helped them respond in a more sensitive and conscious manner,” said Judge Desai.

Representatives for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said that while the WCED had launched its own investigation into the alleged racism claims, an independent inquiry was also being conducted by the SA Human Rights Commission.

Schäfer said in a statement yesterday that her office had found no evidence of racial discrimination at the school and that educators who attended the private matric party were not in the wrong.

“There is no evidence that people were excluded based on their race, however; there is evidence that the party invitation was circulated to all matric learners. This also means that there are no grounds to take action against teachers who attended the private event.

“It is clear that this was a private event organised by parents of learners, who were disappointed that the formal school farewell had been cancelled,” said Schäfer..