Last week the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) threatened to shut down Curro Somerset West High School following allegations of racism and bullying at the school.
In an incident related by the organisation, a Grade 9 learner had been receiving racist WhatsApp messages from another learner, by whom the learner had also been assaulted in the school grounds earlier in May.
According to Mphumzi Giwu, acting provincial secretary of Cosas Western Cape, the school did not address the matter with urgency.
He said nothing happened after the victim’s parent visited the school to bring the matter to its attention. “The headmaster has been very ignorant of cases of racism and bullying at the school,” he said.
“This led to the withdrawal of the Grade 9 pupil from the school by the parent due to its failure to abide by its own policies.”
Mari Lategan of Curro Holdings Corporate Services has refuted the contents of Cosas’ statement on the alleged incident at its Somerset West school.
“Curro Holdings reiterates that the information is not an accurate reflection of its schools, especially the situation referred to, and reserves its rights in this regard,” she said.
“The group’s privacy policies prevent its schools from providing exact details of any incident involving any of its learners.
“The protection of its learners, their privacy and best interests remain a top priority.”
Lategan confirmed there was an isolated incident between two learners, both girls of the same race, where one issued threatening voice notes to the other after school hours.
“The school intervened at the request of the complaining parent. The necessary internal disciplinary processes and subsequent mediation occurred, while support was offered to the family,” said Lategan.
She added Cosas had entered the school’s premises last Tuesday (24 May) under false pretences.
“Such action is deemed unacceptable and reckless, as a school is regarded a place of safety for learners,” she said.
The following day (25 May) a meeting took place between the organisation and the school surrounding the information in its statement that was shared regarding an incident between the two learners of the same race at Curro Somerset West.
“All parties attending mutually agreed on a zero-tolerance policy on any form of racism, bullying and especially cyberbullying,” Lategan said.
“The meeting affirmed all parties have the same goal. The group [Curro Holdings] reiterated it is completely committed to unity and racial cohesion, and does not condone any form of discrimination, cyberbullying, religious intolerance, hate speech, derogatory language or anything that affected the dignity of a human being, across all its schools.”
