Commission takes on PAC over ‘one settler, one bullet’

We’d also look into the alleged offensive social media comments made by EFF MP Nazier Paulsen.

Andre Hurtley Gaum Human Rights Commission

The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says there is prima facie evidence for a case to be made against the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) over chants its members made during their protest against racism at Brackenfell High School.

The PAC protested at the Cape Town school last week in the wake of allegations of racism and discrimination.

SAHRC commissioner advocate Andre Hurtley Gaum said the commission would take the PAC to the Equality Court over the chant one settler, one bullet.

Gaum said the commission would probe allegations of racism and discrimination at the school which led to the protests by the PAC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), as well as the ensuing violence and the conduct of the SA Police Service (Saps).

Furthermore, the commission would investigate allegations of hate speech, particularly in relation to EFF members protesting at the school last week while singing “shoot the farmer, shoot the boer”.

The commission and the Equality Court had previously determined that the slogan constituted hate speech, Gaum said.

The commission would also look into the alleged offensive social media comments made by EFF MP Nazier Paulsen, Gaum added.

Gaum said the commission had met the school’s principal and the chair of its school governing body (SGB), who denied the allegations of racism and discrimination at the school and indicated that the school had a diversity committee.

The SGB chair also agreed to consider conducting sensitivity training, assisted by the commission, for school staff and learners, Gaum said.

The commission’s monitors on the ground during protests at the school last Friday noted the police’s use of stun grenades and water cannons to disperse the protesters.

However, they did not witness the alleged looting of shops and destruction of property and the commission had not received any complaints regarding the latter allegations, Gaum said.

Gaum urged anyone with information on the looting of shops to approach the commission.

The commission has written to the Western Cape department of education and the school regarding the allegations of racism and discrimination and a meeting has been scheduled with the two entities as well as the SGB and pupils’ body to explore the matter indepth, Gaum said.

The SAHRC urged that matriculants be afforded the opportunity to write their final exams in peace and for protesters to stay away from the school.

The commission was also concerned by the nonobservance of Covid-19 regulations during last week’s protests,Gaum said.

The commission would also convene a summit on the rising racial tensions and racial polarisation in the country.