Statement by Ron Swartz, Head of Education in the Western Cape

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has received a report from its North Metropole EMDC (district office) on the recent incident at Edgemead High School. Given the sensitivities involved and the fact that the normal disciplinary procedures must still be carried out, this report will not be released at this time. The Department will make further announcements on the matter once the disciplinary procedures have been completed.

The report will, however, be made available to the Human Rights Commission to help the Commission in its own, independent inquiry into the matter.

The Department has not until now made any statement on the matter because it needs to ensure that the issue is dealt with quickly, fairly and justly. It is my view that the constant highlighting of the matter in the media in particular is doing more harm than good. The role of the media in this regard must also be critically evaluated. It is unfortunate that the media has made public a range of perceptions about the course of events, much of which has no basis in fact. This can only be to the detriment of the learners involved and the school community as a whole.

It is also unfortunate that it has been reported that the principal has been "gagged". It is true that the EMDC requested the principal to refrain from making any further comment on the matter. This has not, in fact, stopped the school governing body, pupils and parents, and the principal himself, from making a wide range of statements about the matter. This is unfortunate, as every statement made by anybody requires and elicits counter-statements and debate, all of which happens in an atmosphere of extreme agitation, anger and suspicion. The range of misinformation, misinterpretation of events and generally ill-informed statements made by all and sundry is clearly enough justification for the WCED to want to manage the flow of information more sensibly and more responsibly.

The Department has refrained from comment simply because it needed to have all the facts on the table, from the role of the pupils involved, to the role played by the school in dealing with the matter on the day and subsequently. It is not in the interest of the school or the broader education community for the Department to act in the absence of information. As for the claim by the school that the Department has not provided any support during this time, it needs to be pointed out that the EMDC’s Director and Edgemead’s circuit manager have been in constant touch with the school, and with the learners and families concerned, to provide moral and psychological support. It is also ironic that the school should at this time demand support when it has consistently, in its relationship with departmental structures, acted in a way that rebuffed departmental initiatives and programmes such as school governing body and teacher training and development programmes.

It needs to be made very clear that the WCED will not tolerate any form of racism in any of its schools, and will act to ensure that racist attitudes and actions among staff and learners are harshly dealt with. A number of our districts have already introduced Diversity Management and Anti-Bias Programmes into schools. The excellent work done by our South Metropole EMDC is an example of this.

These programmes will be extended to other schools in the province, with the initial focus on metropolitan schools where the potential for racial misunderstanding and conflict may be highest. These programmes will also be rolled out to the rural and farm areas where it is imperative that the entire schooling community be involved, especially where the WCED will be launching a programme to encourage the merging and deracialisation of schools.

The WCED has impressed on Edgemead the need for an urgent resolution of the disciplinary process in this case and will meet with the school’s Governing Body today to decide on a date, which it is hoped will be early next week. The school has also been provided with a set of guidelines for managing the process to ensure that no procedural errors occur. While the school is familiar with the process, it is clear that the high profile of this case requires additional administrative support and this will be made available. It must be emphasized, however, that the process must be left entirely in the hands of the SGB, because, as the Head of Department, I will still have to consider their recommendations and make a final decision. Any appeals against my decision could be directed to the MEC for Education. It is imperative, therefore, that neither the MEC nor I make any statements on the merits of this case until the matter is concluded.

It should also be mentioned that at this stage the WCED is looking into the school’s handling of the matter. Further statements will be made at the conclusion of the disciplinary process, and on receipt of the Human Rights Commission’s report.

Arrangements have been made for both learners to write their examinations. The EMDC reports that Nosipho Mkhize turned up initially to write her examinations, but subsequently withdrew. This is understandable, given the traumatic experience that she had been through. The EMDC also reports that the Ferreira family did not take up its offer of support, or proposals by the Department to help Nameer Ferreira with the writing of her examinations. However, the school and the EMDC will look at both learners’ academic progress during the year to make decisions about their progress into the next school year.

Since Edgemead’s entire school population needs support at this time, and since it is vital to ensure that the staff, learners and parents fully understand the context of the incident and how they can avoid any similar incidents in future, the EMDC has arranged for experts in conflict resolution and diversity management to visit the school early next week to conduct an initial programme of counselling with teachers and learners. This will, of course, be followed up with more intensive programmes at this and other schools.