A grade 12 pupil at Roosevelt High School in Randburg, northern Johannesburg, who spoke up against alleged racism at the institution, has been isolated from other pupils.
The isolation comes two weeks after the 18-year-old was suspended for retweeting tweets from an account that has since been deleted that had testimonies from other learners who accused the school of racism and nepotism.
According to the school’s charge sheet, the pupil, who cannot be named to protect her identity, faces two charges.
“She engages in a conspiracy to disrupt the proper functioning of the school through collective action. She insults the dignity of or defames any learner or any person, which includes racists remarks,” reads the charge sheet which Sowetan has seen.
The pupil said she had spoken out against the ill-treatment of black pupils at the school.
“I had voiced out to the school that I was not happy with the racial representation in the authority and also the treatment of black students. At the time I came across a Twitter account that posted about racial issues at [the] school, but has since been deleted.
"White pupils at our school get away with a lot. It is also a problem when a black learner’s hair touches the collar and yet coloured and white learners come to school with bob cuts and hair beyond their collars,” the pupil said.
The pupil’s attorney, Mahlatse Gwebu, said he was disappointed at how the school handled the matter.
“We asked the school to lift the suspension because she was supposed to appear before the disciplinary hearing committee on September 3, but the school postponed [the hearing] as she was going to be represented by a lawyer and the school demanded for her to be represented by an attorney.
“Even though the suspension had been lifted, the school said the child should be in isolation and this does not make sense as the child’s presence at school is not going to cause any harm,” he said.
Gwebu said the pupil is not supposed to engage with other pupils and will be alone with an invigilator to be paid for by the school when she writes an exam.
He said the pupil has to leave the school premises immediately after writing an exam.
One of the tweets posted between June and July read: “I’m going back to school next week and rather than worrying about tests I have waiting for me, I am more anxious about returning to the toxicity of white domination and black oppression.”
Another from a Muslim pupil read: “As a Muslim learner I have to frequently justify my beard. I have to bring a note from an Imam. Muslim girls are called out of assembly for wearing long pants and scarves. Our religious holidays are not recognised…”
The girl's mother referred all the questions to Gwebu, who said it has been an emotional situation for the parents.
Gwebu said the disciplinary hearing was postponed on Tuesday as one of the complainants was the school principal’s son. “We will reflect on the outcomes of the hearing and how we take the matter forward,” he said.
The pupil said it was sad that she lost out on two weeks of schooling.
Pupils at the school claimed that black learners were treated differently by the teachers. “Black pupils are often neglected by their teachers when they want to be helped on their school work,” said an 18-year-old.
Another pupil, 18, said there was an open-door policy for white pupils, but not for black learners.
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