An independent investigative report on incidents at Pretoria High School for Girls has recommended that the principal Phillipa Erasmus and her deputy be guilty of misconduct.
The report was commissioned by the Gauteng Department of Education to probe allegations of “a culture of racism at the school and provided recommendations to address such incidents.”
This after 12 matric learners were accused of creating a “whites only” WhatsApp group where they shared derogatory messages with racial undertones.
The learners were however cleared by the School Governing Body (SGB).
The principal, the deputy principal, two educators for classroom-related incidents, the estate manager, the HR manager and the acting principal.
The Gauteng Education Department is to consider removing the SGB Chairperson for his attempt to interfere with the legislative powers and functions of the MEC.
This was designed to derail the investigation,” said Mthuthuzeli Mdladlamba, Director of Mdladlamba Attorneys, who released the report in Pretoria.
The report also made scathing remarks against the officials for failing to address complaints and bullying brought by mainly black learners and teachers at the school dating back to 2019.
According to Mdladlamba, another complaint is that some white teachers and staff members do not greet their black colleagues, because they don’t know if they’re cleaners or educators at the school.
Mdladlamba said the allegation that some white teachers do not greet their black colleagues was confirmed by the principal, Phillipa Erasmus, who is suspended.
“According to the principal, this is the biggest frustration that she must deal with at the school, including the ill-treatment of the administration staff by some educators.
The principal indicated that her challenge is that the administration staff do not want to name the educators that are ill-treating them and thus she cannot take the necessary disciplinary steps against them,” explained Mdladlamba.
Meanwhile, MEC Education MEC Matome Chiloane said they’re not deterred by threats of a legal challenge and will implement the report to its fullest.
