South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) in Gauteng has condemned the reported incident of racism at Hoërskool Jan Viljoen in Randfontein, Gauteng.
SADTU Gauteng is outraged by reports of racism at Hoërskool Jan Viljoen in Randfontein. It is unacceptable that racism still rears its ugly head in the 28th year of our democratic dispensation.
The union said such incidents undermine the collective aspirations of ordinary South Africans to build a non-racial, non-sexist and inclusive country as espoused in the Constitution
The incident of racism at the school occurred when a pupil who was involved in a fight on Friday, used a racial slur to refer to the music being listened to by a group of black pupils.
The incident later spiralled into a series of protests and violent clashes between parents, learners, police and private security over what led to the incident.
The teacher’s union has further stated that it stands in solidarity with Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi’s call for the incident to be investigated by the South African Police Service(SAPS) and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).
SADTU has also called on the Gauteng Department of Basic Education to run diversity management programs and implement transformative measures in the composition of staff members.
