So Many Questions

The enforcement of its hair code by Pretoria High School for Girls led to accusations of racism and intervention by Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi. Chris Barron asked him . . .

Why did you ban Pretoria Girls’ High from talking to the press?

I have not taken that decision.

That’s what they told me. Are they lying?

I have not reached such an agreement with them.

Why have they concocted this story then?

Because they’re under pressure. They underestimated the impact of the problem. They underestimated the effect of their code of conduct on learners. They also underestimated the backlash from South Africans. That is why I think they are trying to take cover.

Could you have handled this matter without trashing them so publicly?

I have not trashed them.

They have been trashed, haven’t they?

I have not done that. I was alerted about a petition addressed to me and the principal of the school. I advised my officials that I want to go to the school to hear the other side of the story.

And invited the press?

I didn’t invite the press. I found the press there.

How did they know you were going to be there?

Because I said so on my Twitter account.

So you made sure the media would be there?

I didn’t make sure. The media was there. I don’t think that’s wrong.

Is it appropriate for a government minister to make a personal visit to a school because pupils don’t like the hair code?

I’ve got a soft spot for children. If children cry for help I will go and protect those children. I really believe there is no one that must incur pain or inhumanity. As long as there is pain I must be there to heal.

Could it be argued that more serious threats to the wellbeing of children at many other schools are crying out for your attention?

Like what?

Teachers having sex with them.

I have fired 45 teachers since April for that.

Were any of the schools concerned named and shamed?

It’s not about naming and shaming schools, it’s about protecting children. I have the ultimate responsibility to protect children as the head of this institution, and I will act. On three fronts: social aspects, academic aspects . . .

In township schools?

Check the matric results last year of township schools, the weakest schools, underperforming schools. There is no single school that has performed lower than 50% in the townships and rural areas of Gauteng.

Isn’t Pretoria Girls’ High one of the best-performing schools in the province?

That is why I intervened immediately.

With the result that its reputation has been spectacularly trashed. Does it deserve that?

I went there to protect children that needed help. This school is one of our best-performing schools. It is competing with the best private schools in the province. So I am protecting their integrity. That is why I intervened.

Surely you knew that intervening the way you did would attract a storm of negative publicity for the school?

So should I therefore work in a world where the media is closed out? I’m not going to do that. I’m a transparent person.

Wouldn’t a call to the school by one of your officials have been more appropriate?

No, no. Who brought the army to the school premises, who brought the police, who brought heavyhanded security guards with guns inside the school premises? Was it me? This thing was already in the media. I just intervened. Don’t blame me. I wanted to protect their prestige.

How have you done that?

Academic lessons are no longer disrupted. They went back to school.

Do you think this issue has been blown out of all proportion?

I will never underestimate concerns by South Africans about race, about inhuman conditions, about insults.

School hair codes have always been unpopular with pupils, haven’t they?

And I’ve dealt with such cases before. You go to Bryanston High. There was a learner the school fired, and I agreed with the school. The learner came to complain to me in my office. I told him: “Adhere to the school regulations, there is nothing wrong with the school regulations.” He was white. He felt the school’s hair policy was interfering with his religious beliefs. I told the school governing body, please subject the policy to a vote by the school. If they vote for it to continue, then it must be enforced. The students voted overwhelmingly that the law must remain. I told the learner there was nothing I could do.

And if a majority support the Pretoria Girls’ hair code?

If the school says . . . Because we can’t operate outside laws. Then you are going to be a gangsters’ free-for-all institution. If parents and learners agree to the law, then it must be adhered to.

Won’t schools be too scared to enforce hair or dress codes now?

If the codes are insensitive to other cultures and races then, indeed, people must be scared. If those codes adhere to the Bill of Rights and the constitution I will encourage schools to enforce them.