‘Something dodgy’ about Schweizer Reneke class race incident

ALMOST a week after a photo showing a segregated classroom at Laerskool Schweizer Reneke went viral on social media, it is still unclear who had separated the children according to race.

While the teacher who had taken the picture was suspended last week after an outcry, the North West Department of Education said it was not getting co-operation from the school about what had happened.

The suspended teacher allegedly sent the picture to a WhatsApp group to show parents that the first day of school was going well.

Spokesperson Freddy Sepeng said yesterday that his department had suspended the teacher for taking the picture as the classroom was a place to teach and not take pictures.

“There is evidence that she had taken the picture and she did admit that she took it. Even the school principal and the school governing body admitted that she was the one who took the picture. However, what we are trying to understand is who separated the children.

“We don’t know if it was her or the class teacher but we are not getting the truth. There is something dodgy here. Even the principal as someone who is from the department and is supposed to assist is not doing that,” said Sepeng.

“Maybe she (the teacher) was the same person who separated the children and took the picture or it was someone else but we don’t know because we are not getting the relevant information,” Sepeng added.

Education MEC Sello Lehari and other officials had planned to visit the school this week to get to the bottom of the issue.

However, Sepeng remained confident that the culprit would be identified soon.

Meanwhile, protesters who had gathered at the school the day after the picture went viral and asked that the suspended teacher be replaced with a black one may not get their wish.

Sepeng said the department was not making decisions on the basis of people’s emotions. “We are still looking for a teacher and there are procedures to be followed, we can’t work with people’s emotions.”

He said one of the teachers at the school was temporarily assisting while they looked for a replacement.

Trade union Solidarity and the suspended teacher will today address a joint press conference on recent events at the town’s primary school.

Solidarity said it will announce legal action to be taken to have what termed the unlawful suspension of Elana Barkhuizen lifted.

“The trade union will also announce certain steps to be taken following action taken by North West’s MEC for Education, Sello Lehari,” the union said.

According to Solidarity chief executive Dr Dirk Hermann, Lehari’s actions led to Barkhuizen’s “unlawful suspension while being innocent.

“Had he listened to the other side he would have reached a different conclusion.

“However, he charged and convicted her in a bundu court fashion in the presence of a worked-up crowd.”

Solidarity said it would also announce steps to be taken against political parties that “have exploited the incident for political gain.”