GDE Won’t Release Pretoria High School for Girls Racism Report Because of Private Content

• The Gauteng Department of Education declined to publish the full racism probe report for the Pretoria High School for Girls incidents
• Several of the school's senior staff have been implicated in racism incidents towards the teachers as well as systemic racism
• South Africans called them out and expressed disdain at the Department's refusal to share the report's details

Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated Briefly News current affairs journalist, contributed coverage of international and local social issues like health, corruption, education, unemployment, labour, service delivery protests and heritage in South Africa during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.

PRETORIA — The Gauteng Department of Education's refusal to publish the Pretoria High School for Girls' report on racism at the school was met with resistance.

GDE won't publish report

According to Eyewitness News, the Department said it would not release the full report because it contains private content. The Department earlier revealed that white members of the school staff were implicated in racially-charged behaviour. The school has opted to take the matter to the high court.

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The MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, said the Protection of Personal Information Act obliges the Department to protect the witnesses, their names, and their details implicated in the Pretoria High School for Girls racism row. He said the Department could release an edited version of the report. The principal was placed on a three-month suspension in July 2024.

Netizens disagree with GDE

South Africans commenting on @ewnupdates' tweet were not happy with the decision.

Anton Visser said:

"Ag, please. They are lying."

Franic Nkosi said:

"The GDE needs to understand that they have a responsibility towards the students as well. It is really demoralizing for a young black child to see this. Our kids are still experiencing racist tendencies."

Joffter asked:

"What's private? No privacy was shown to the girls falsely accused, so what's the issue?"

Vrolike Vinikie said:

"Nothing can mend the trust and goodwill destroyed. Shame on the perpetrators."

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Aaron Mokabane said:

"GDE is trying to destabilize a functional and good school."

Pretoria High School for Girls students suspended

In a related article, Briefly News reported that 12 learners were suspended after being accused of racism.

The learners allegedly had a WhatsApp group where they shared racially-charged sentiments.

Source: Briefly News