SOMERSET COLLEGE PUPIL RELIVES RACISM
“Kill the coloured!”
“Let’s rape the f**.” “People of your colour are not welcome here.”
These are some of the racist, discriminatory and homophobic slurs a former Somerset College pupil alleges he had to endure.
Five years later Maalik Cassiem has gained confidence to share his experiences in the predominantly white school and its boarding house in the hope that no other pupil will face the same trauma he is still dealing with.
The 21-year-old, now studying at UCT, has approached the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to probe the private school situated in an upperclass area of Somerset West, saying he believed discriminatory incidents were still continuing.
“I started my academics at the school in Grade 10. Little did I know this would be the beginning of a nightmare. At first my experiences of racism were subtle, and certain white learners would make fun of my coloured accent through imitation, followed by laughter. I would usually shrug this off as petty and childish behaviour. However, my experiences became more intense towards the middle of the year.
“My room-mate told me to my face that I was not welcome here and that the other white learners were only tolerating me because they had no choice. He would tell me he was superior to me. Another learner asked where I was from and before I could answer he randomly started naming poor gang-ridden coloured areas and they laughed at me in the dining hall,” said Cassiem.
He alleges other pupils at the boarding house would taunt him for being gay and threatened him with rape.
“My friends reported the boys who were bullying me and I was approached by the school counsellor.
Reporting this escalated the bullying and Islamophobia started as well. They said I was a terrorist and that I could bomb the school, among many other things. I tried to retaliate by swearing at them because I was tired,” he said.
When his parents were informed, a meeting was held with the school.
Cassiem said as a solution the boarding house decided to move him out of the Grade 10 section and he was isolated “as if I was the problem”.
“The principal proceeded to do a talk on discrimination at school by inviting two alumni to discuss the topic with us. This did not do much given that discrimination was still taking place at the school. As a result there was one student of colour in my class during Grade 11 who left the school because he could not handle the racism anymore.
“There was also an incident with my hair where I was asked if it was possible for my hair to be gelled back, as it was so thick and curly.”
He said he never spoke out publicly and feared being victimised.
“I have gained confidence now. I want to say to other learners that it’s important to know yourself and stand by your values. If you don’t believe something is right then speak up! If no one is willing to listen then make yourself heard. Celebrate and love yourself because there is only one you!”
Somerset College Graham Sayer executive head said Cassiem’s case was investigated at the time by the head of their Student Development Unit who “uncovered a wide-ranging and bitter dispute between him and some of his fellow boarders. However, she was unable to corroborate the accusations from both sides and so approached remediation from a counselling perspective”.
Sayer admitted there had been some other complaints of racism, bullying or harassment over the past five years. “We have addressed them as they have come to us through formal
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channels. It is truly heart-rending and dismaying to be confronted by the lingering pain that Cassiem has. Several of the incidents that he raised with the WCED, we were not aware of, however, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to receive his feedback so that we can learn whatever lessons necessary to improve our ability to prevent other students from having a similar experience in the future. We do not want any student to experience racism, bullying and the like on our campus. We are decidedly against racism and bullying,” he said.
Sayer said since 2017 they had put in a great deal of work to continue the transformation process at the school and to introduce updated policies and procedures for addressing racism, harassment and bullying.
WCED’s Bronagh Hammond said as the school was an independent institution, they advised the parent to contact the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa.
In an email seen by the Cape Times, SAHRC acting Western Cape provincial manager Matthew du Plessis responded to Cassiem that the commission assessed his complaint and advised it was not best placed to assist.
According to Du Plessis the commission did not, except in the most exceptional of cases, investigate matters that occurred more than three years before lodging of a complaint, and its Complaints Handling Procedures allowed it to reject such complaints. “Matters that revolve around personal interactions such as those alleged in your complaint are particularly less likely to be investigated, given that they rely on specific persons who need to testify as to the events,” said Du Plessis.