Richard Wilkinson: Another klap for Lesufi over Pretoria Girls as ...

​Former President Thabo Mbeki, alongside Professor Angina Parekh and Dr. Philani Mthembu, has issued a sharp critique of the Gauteng government’s handling of a racism scandal at Pretoria High School for Girls. In a detailed letter to Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane, Mbeki condemned the suspension of twelve white students and the school principal, arguing that actions were taken without proper investigation. His remarks highlight serious concerns about the Gauteng Department of Education’s management and accountability. This article was first published on School Capture.

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By Richard Wilkinson

Last week, former President Thabo Mbeki, in conjunction with Professor Angina Parekh and Dr Philani Mthembu, sent a blistering 13-page letter to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Education MEC Matome Chiloane, criticising their handling of the recent “racism” scandal at Pretoria High School for Girls. The full letter, with only the names of the affected girls redacted, is available here.

In July this year, twelve white matric girls were suspended from school after being accused of making racist remarks in a WhatsApp group. Following a disciplinary hearing led by an independent advocate, all twelve girls were acquitted of the charges levelled against them.

In addition to the suspension of the learners, the Gauteng Department of Education (“GDE”) suspended the school’s principal, Mrs Erasmus, and transferred the deputy principal, Mrs Schoombie, to a position at the District Office.

Concerned by reports detailing the way that the situation was being managed, former President Mbeki took an active interest in the matter. He visited the school in early September, meeting with both the School Governing Body and, thereafter, with officials from the Gauteng Provincial Government. Last week, former President Mbeki released his perspective on the matter through his letter to MEC Chiloane and Premier Lesufi.​

Former President Mbeki with members of the School Governing Body at Pretoria High School for Girls, 3 September 2024

A thorough and scathing critique

In his letter, former President Mbeki highlighted that the decisions to suspend and charge the twelve white learners, as well as the principal, were “taken before any investigation was carried out to establish that there was at least prima facie evidence to suggest that there was substance to the allegations made.”[1] He remarked, “Obviously, the GDE officials immediately bought lock, stock and barrel into the story told by the so-called ‘aggrieved learners’.”[2]

Former President Mbeki highlighted several egregious instances of abuse of power by the GDE which include:

The actions of a GDE official who addressed a School Assembly on 19 July 2024. The official criticised the 12 members of the chat group for their racism and asked rhetorical questions about their possible suspension or expulsion, and the removal from their positions of those who were prefects. The audience of learners responded to all this with loud cheers.[3] The decision by GDE officials to humiliate the Principal by obliging her to apologise to the Assembly of learners. They obliged her to say:

“Firstly, I would like to apologise to everyone who has been affected by the recent events and how things have unfolded… This matter has affected us all and each of us in our own way. I would like to apologise if I have not dealt with things in the manner in which they should have been dealt… I sincerely apologise to each and every one of you for how you are feeling right now.”[4]

Comments made in a school newsletter in which a GDE official, Mr Andries Nkadimeng, made the absurd statement that “Issues of discrimination and issues of racism will not be tolerated by the GDE, whether there is tangible evidence or not.” (Underlining added by me) President Mbeki responded to this by saying that he “strongly suggests that the GDE should examine how this ‘zero-tolerance’ expresses itself.”[5] The comments by the GDE’s spokesman, Mr Steve Mabona, who falsely stated during an interview on Newzroom Afrika that the disciplinary hearing involving the twelve white learners “did not say anything on racism”. Former President Mbeki states that:

“Charges 1 and 2 against the 12-person chat group, are about racism and hate speech. The DC found that there was nothing in the chat group comments and evidence presented to the DC which substantiated the charges of racism and hate speech! It is therefore impossible to understand how Mr Mabona comes to the conclusion that the finding that there was no racism in the chat group discussion amounts to saying nothing about racism!

Mr Mabona also says that the DC “only focused on bullying, violence, those allegations of physical violence as well as the disruptive nature of the behaviour of learners…”

There is no mention in the DC Ruling on any of the issues claimed by Mr Mabona.

Once more, it is impossible to understand how Mr Mabona came to manufacture this additional and absolute fabrication!

Of course, it is possible to understand all this as arising from the effort by Mr Mabona to create what he believes would be a credible explanation for the initiation of the special investigation authorised by MEC Chiloane after the SGB DC found the 12 learners ‘not guilty’.”[6]

Perhaps most significantly of all, former President Mbeki mentions in his letter that he has personally inspected the relevant WhatsApp conversation and is satisfied that the remarks were in no way racist:

“We ourselves have also closely studied the comments made by the chat group, independently to determine whether these constituted manifestations of racism and hate speech.

Our own firm conclusion is that there is no such manifestation in the said comments. We therefore fully agree with the Ruling of the SGB DC on the matter of the 12 learners in the chat group.”[7]

Former President Mbeki further states that “It seems, for some reason, that the GDE is very determined at all costs to smear the PHSG with the charge of racism.”[8]

Former President Mbeki expressed dismay at the bullying and harassment which the principal had been subjected to:

“On 18 July 2024, a group of learners accosted the Principal, Mrs Erasmus, as she was walking inside the grounds of the PHSG, in the presence of a GDE official. They screamed at her, demanding “We want change”, showing absolutely no respect for her both as the Principal and a parent.

No action was taken to reprimand the learners concerned, precisely to reinforce respect for a Member of the School Management as senior as the Principal, and thus avoid the eventuality of the School falling victim to anarchy or ungovernability.

This situation was made worse by obliging the same Principal to appear at a School Assembly to make an unwarranted apology to the learners, some of whom had treated her with contempt the previous day.

The question arises – what did the GDE seek to achieve by treating the very Head of the School in this shameful and humiliating manner?”[9]

He was equally critical of the GDE’s decision to move the Deputy Principal to the District Office:

“There is also the matter of the suspension of the Deputy Principal and her transfer to District Offices of the GDE, there to work as an administrator / bureaucrat.

We are talking here of a senior teacher of Physical Science with 20 years of experience in this vitally important subject in our country, even as the learners were preparing to write their Matriculation examination.

Is this how we should treat our ‘valued partners in the collegial task to bring up the New Citizen’?”[10]

Former President Mbeki’s recommendations include the following:

“Accordingly, we hold the unequivocal view that the GDE erred in acting against the persons concerned on the basis of the false allegation that the chat group made comments which amounted to racism and hate speech.

Accordingly, we propose that the GDE must, without delay:

• terminate the Principal’s suspension and allow her to return to her job at the PHSG;

• allow the Deputy Principal to return with immediate effect to her job at the PHSG;

• address the School Assembly to explain its actions; and,

• reconsider halting the investigation instituted by the GDE which we understand is currently underway.”[11]

He concludes as follows:

“We hope that the GDE will draw honest conclusions from this unfortunate episode of the ’12-person learner chat group’ and thus improve the manner in which it discharges its role of managing and leading our school system, as defined by law.”[12]

A devastating indictment of Panyaza Lesufi’s government

The remarks by former President Mbeki are a devastating indictment of Panyaza Lesufi’s provincial government in general and the Gauteng Department of Education in particular. It is hard to imagine how any of those responsible for this debacle can emerge with their credibility intact.

Former President Mbeki’s intervention also brings much-needed vindication for the twelve wrongfully accused girls, as well as the school’s principal, Mrs Erasmus, and the deputy principal, Mrs Schoombie. I sincerely hope they can return to work promptly. I also hope that Pretoria High School for Girls can once again be a centre of academic excellence, representing the best of a diverse, productive and happy South African nation.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that what has occurred at Pretoria High School for Girls is by no means an isolated incident.

In 2017, a St John’s College teacher called Keith Arlow was accused of racism and was subjected to severe public bullying by Panyaza Lesufi’s Department of Education, eventually being dismissed by the school.[13] Mr Arlow was subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing by the South African Council of Education – a fact which both St John’s College and the Gauteng Department of Education seem to be doing everything possible to ignore. In 2021, a Pretoria teacher called Anneke Smit was subjected to a farcical disciplinary hearing after she said the word “polisiemannetjie” in class, a phrase which was twisted to be “police monkey” and portrayed as being racist. According to news reports:

“Smits’ union, the SA Teachers’ Union, asked for audio recordings of the disciplinary hearing but never received them. She appealed her dismissal, and on 21 October 2021, she received a letter from Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi dismissing her appeal.”

After receiving assistance from lobby group, Solidarity, Ms Smit eventually triumphed at the Education Labour Relations Council which found that her “dismissal was both procedurally and substantively unfair.”[14]

Finally, in 2016, a picture on social media appeared to show a black girl sitting separately from white children at the Afrikaans-language Koeitjies en Kalfies crèche in Centurion. The owner of the crèche, Anell Engelbrecht, explained that this was simply due to eight children being present on that day and that tables were only able to seat six children. Then MEC Lesufi posted the address of the school on Twitter before personally appearing at the facility, threatening to jump over the fence in order to confront the “racist” crèche management.[15]​​​

I can only hope that the unravelling of the latest scandal at Pretoria High School for Girls can start to raise awareness amongst the public that these racism scandals are, almost invariably, not based on facts but are manufactured to serve a political agenda.

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This article was first published on School Capture and is republished with permission