Respect my religion: father in hair row

RESPECT my religion. That was the plea of a father whose 12-year-old son was intimidated by teachers and allegedly by a policeman because his hair was long.

The boy and other pupils from a primary school in KwaMaphumulo are all members of the Nazareth Baptist Church, and according to their faith are prohibited from cutting their hair.

The father said yesterday that the school, which has a high number of pupils from that church, allegedly called in the police two weeks ago to intimidate the children into cutting their hair.

The father who blew the whistle on the incident said he was shocked.

He said his son did not have his hair cut thanks to the school sec- retary who had pleaded with the police officer.

The father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the pupil, said his son was still traumatised by the incident in which he and four boys were told to line up in front of the police officer in the staff room and wait for their turn to get a haircut.

The man said because his son did not have a haircut, the police officer referred to him as “Shembe child” and ordered him to pick up the other children’s hair.

The father wants the school to respect his religion.

“As a parent, I have a responsibility to teach my son about our religion and the issue of hair is important for us and sacred. I have difficulty doing this when the school wants to teach him that he is doing something wrong.”

Last year, the Daily News reported on a number of pupils from schools in the northern parts of the province who were suspended for refusing to cut their hair for religious reasons.

Thabo Sombothi, the Nazareth Judicial Council secretary, said the incident had left pupils at the school traumatised and spiritually damaged. Another church leader, Joseph Mhlongo, said this was purely religious discrimination.

At a media briefing yesterday, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, the chairperson of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, said although they had reported the matter to the provincial Education Department, hundreds of complaints were still streaming in.

She said a circular issued by the department last year, telling schools to leave the pupils alone, had fallen on deaf ears.

Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said for a school to involve the police in the issues of hair was shocking. She said the commission would meet the acting provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, to launch a formal report.

Kwazi Mthethwa, the department’s spokesperson, yesterday warned teachers and schools still involved in unlawfully forcing children to cut their hair, not to do so.

“We dealt with the schools involved in this last year. A few cases that still existed, we are going to deal with them accordingly.”

Police did not comment at the time of publication.