The school governing body (SGB) of Hoërskool Jan Viljoen in Randfontein, which is currently embroiled in an alleged racism row, has agreed to suspend a teacher who was accused of sexual harassment by pupils.

This week, the school made national headlines after clashes broke out between black and white parents over allegations of racism at the school.

This after several videos of a brawl between black and white pupils went viral on social media, along with voice notes in which defamatory language, including the K-word, was used.

On Monday, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited the school to try and calm the situation.

It was during that visit that pupils told Lesufi about a particular staff member who was allegedly sexually harassing them, much to his shock.

He said:

During his visit to the school on Monday, tensions were high between black and white parents at the school’s gate, which resulted in the police firing stun grenades and rubber bullets after tyres were set alight.

Lesufi was supposed to have a meeting with parents on Thursday but it was postponed to Sunday due to heavy rains.

“This is nature, and you can’t dictate to nature and I am once again sorry that parents have to go through this rainy weather for them to get an update on what is happening at their school,” he said.

Before his arrival at the sports ground on Thursday, some parents accused him of wasting their time, saying the issue at the school was about discipline and race.

Lesufi said:

“There is no way education can continue in this environment, but the two days have assisted us. If you check the tension now and what we had the previous two days, you can see that there is still that, but it’s not at the level where we can say school can’t proceed,” he added.

Although parents who stayed and braved the rain were initially outraged by the postponement they settled down once Lesufi apologised.

“There is nothing I can say because you see the rain and Lesufi was not on time. According to the message, they said it would start at 5pm, but he came after 6pm, but after he explained it to us, I don’t think there is a problem. We accepted what he told us,” parent Nonsikelelo Nzondo told News24.

She said teaching and learning had resumed since Monday.

“I am hoping for the best. Everything must go back to normal, everything must be sorted out, and this racism must be stopped so the kids can go to school without fear.

“Our children aren’t free like before because today my child was asking me if she must go to school or not, and I said she must go because they said Thursday is a normal school day. When I took her to school, everything was normal, and when she came back, she told us it was a normal school day,” Nzondo added.

Article Courtesy on News24