The meeting follows the release of a video of a Grade 8 English teacher writing racist terms on a whiteboard during a lesson. In the video, learners can be heard condoning the conduct of the teacher. As a result, the Commission has initiated an own accord investigation following the release of the video. The own accord investigation is aimed at determining the measures put in place by the school to prevent such an incident from happening again as well as the measures in place to assist learners, and the rest of the schooling community affected by the incident.

The Commission notes that Crawford College International, Pretoria released a statement about the incident. In the statement, they indicated that ‘the individual involved was a short-term substitute teacher who was brought in a week ago to stand in for a permanent teacher who is currently on sick leave. The temporary teacher has been dismissed with immediate effect, reported to the South African Council for Educators (SACE), and we are taking legal action.’

Finally, the Commission notes that pupils in different schools across the country are faced with incidents of racism leveled against them. The Commission stands by the values of equality enshrined in our Constitution accompanied by the right to protect children at all costs.  Motivated by this, the Commission will continue to investigate similar incidents.

The meeting will take place as follows:

Ends

For further information or enquiries, please contact the Provincial Manager Zamantungwa Mbeki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0837206600 or Wisani Baloyi at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on 081 016 8306.