Brackenfell High: EFF Unimpressed by Court Case Postponement
- The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have responded to the court case postponement for Jaco Pretorius
- Pretorius is the Brackenfell resident who allegedly discharged his firearm during the EFF's protest outside Brackenfell High School
- Pretorius' case was postponed to 19 February, however the EFF remains unimpressed by the court proceedings
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The case against the Brackenfell resident who allegedly discharged a firearm during the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) protest at Brackenfell High School last year was postponed until 19 February. Jaco Pretorius was arrested on 9 November last year.
Pretorius was initially charged with attempted murder but the charge was later changed to discharging a firearm in a public place. The EFF is not very happy about the postponement of the court case.
Western Cape Deputy Chairperson for the EFF Nosipho Makamba-Botya spoke about a bias in the handling of Pretorius' case.
Source: Getty Images
According to a report by IOL, Makamba-Botya said that Pretorius had undermined their rights to express themselves after firing his gun. She stated that his actions are attempted murder and added that they are having to wait months for justice to prevail.
EWN previously reported that Pretorius had been arrested and released on warning in November. This after Pretorius appeared in the Kuils River Magistrate's Court.
Briefly.co.za has been reporting on Brackenfell High School since the news broke about the matric ball. The Western Cape Provincial Education Department was at the time engaging with the school after allegations were made that the school had no black teachers.
A privately organised matric ball at the school also made headlines as it was only attended by white pupils. The EFF protested outside against the claims of racism at the high school last year.
In December, the EFF signalled their pleasure at their legal victory at Brackenfell after the Western Cape High Court ruled in the party's favour. The party vowed to return to the school as a matter of principle to ensure that racism is accounted for.
Former and present learners at Brackenfell High School also opened up about the racism they experience through an Instagram page. The page features hundreds of different accounts of racism from anonymous learners. In many posts, the learners explain how they almost always complained to those in power and yet were never actually heard.
"White boys giggling and pulling your braids in the hallway and making animal sounds. You guys know the one near the hall where it's always dark," one post reads.
The Brackenfell whistblower had also received death threats. Ivan Simmers opened up in a well-known news publication about his life after he made the decision to share the Brackenfell matric ball invitation on his personal Facebook account.
The Facebook post resulted in nationwide unrest and saw the EFF and angry parents go head-to-head outside of the school, which subsequently resulted in the matric exams of the students being interrupted.
Simmers however explains that those unfortunate events are not the only things that have come as a result of his decision to out the alleged racism - he has now also being forced to fear for his life, having been sent death threats and stalked by certain angry parents.
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Source: Briefly News
