GDE ACKNOWLEDGES CURRO SOCIAL MEDIA POST INCIDENT

3 April 2024

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) acknowledges the statement released by Curro Holdings regarding its recent social media post which conveyed a racially unbalanced narrative concerning the potential future careers of learners.

This acknowledgement, however, should be seen within the background of recent racial challenges that Curro has faced, one of which involved a black educator being called a monkey at one of its institutions.

The GDE does not take such racial incidents lightly as they may be cultivating attitudes which reflect a society that has not fully dealt with racism, and this poses a threat not only to the education system and the model citizens it envisages to create, but also to a nation that still tirelessly works towards overcoming such attitudes.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the constitutionality of Curro’s value system, and whether there is enough conscientisation of racial equality and human rights across all its institutions and personnel.

It is also pertinent to verify whether there are indeed appropriate means of accountability for those who may refuse to embrace equality and nonracialism at its institutions.

Statement issued by Gauteng Department of Education’s Spokesperson, Steve Mabona / Spokesperson for Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane, Xolani Mkhwemte, 3 April 2024