The phenomenon which I call “School Capture” usually plays out over three distinct phases.
The first phase involves the publicising of an incident or a series of incidents of “racism”. The story usually breaks on social media, driven by students who allege that they have been victims of some kind of discrimination or abuse. The matter is then amplified by the mainstream media – print journalists as well as radio and television broadcasters – who generally apply very little scrutiny to the allegations, accepting every assertion at face value. This causes a firestorm of controversy which quickly leaves the leadership of the targeted institution fearful and panicky.
The second phase of School Capture involves an investigation undertaken into the allegations of racism. This is typically managed by lawyers who conduct interviews with complainants, witnesses and the accused. As I have recounted in other essays, the quality and probity of these investigations is often highly dubious.
Whatever the case, the key objective of the legal investigation is to get the “racist” label to stick to the targeted institution. For this then gives rise to a logical consequence: if a school is diagnosed as being a site of “systemic racism” or “institutional racism” then clearly it needs to bring in specialist consultants to fix the problem.
To use terminology favoured by Woke activists, the consultants can help “transform” the school into an “anti-racist” institution and train students and staff to “unlearn” harmful behaviours. This typically takes the form of workshops for students and staff as well as policy and institutional reform, all of which are based upon the principles of Critical Race Theory.
This constitutes the third and most destructive phase of School Capture. It leaves in its wake shattered careers and ruined childhoods, poisoned classrooms and polarised staff rooms, large piles of invoices and deeply damaged learning environments. In many schools, morale is severely impaired causing staff and students to leave in droves.
The race vultures descend
At Pretoria High School for Girls, we have moved through Phases 1 and 2 with remarkable speed in recent weeks. On Wednesday 17 July 2024, an anonymous Instagram account published messages from a WhatsApp group involving 12 white girls at the school.
Gauteng Education Department officials arrived on the scene with remarkable speed, demanding that the girls be suspended. Two officials made unjustified and highly inflammatory comments at school assemblies. Shortly thereafter, the department launched a major press offensive causing incalculable reputational damage to the school as well as emotional distress for the accused girls.
The disciplinary hearing into the allegations had not even begun before diversity and transformation consultants had started marketing their services. First out of the blocks was a British woman named Teresa Oakley-Smith. She runs a firm called “Diversi-T” (the firm appears to be named after herself) which specialises in achieving “whole-of-school transformation” for its clients.
On 26 July 2024, Ms Oakley-Smith could be found in the comments section of Mmusi Maimane's Twitter account calling for the “implementation of an effective antiracism strategy” including “a thorough overhaul of educator training, the school curriculum, SGB work and parent education.”
Next up was Asanda Ngoasheng, a “decolonisation specialist” who made national headlines in November 2022 after she conducted a disastrous intervention at Fish Hoek High School in Cape Town, an event that was so bizarre and divisive that it left some students requiring psychological counselling.
Following the Pretoria High School for Girls controversy, Ms Ngoasheng appeared on Newzroom Afrika's live television broadcast to promote her “diversity curriculum”. She declared that:
“it is going to be high time for the new Minister of Education to take this on… and as already has been said, one of the first things to do is to ensure that there is a diversity curriculum within schools. I have built a curriculum which was implemented at a private school. And it had some roaring success in the sense that the school was able to start having conversations about racism in ways that were not hurtful or harmful…”
Both Ms Oakley-Smith and Ms Ngoasheng are familiar faces in the world of diversity and transformation consulting, having appeared at numerous schools across South Africa.
Someone who is relatively new to the scene is Hendrick Makaneta who presents himself as being an “education expert” and according to his LinkedIn profile runs the Foundation for Education and Social Justice.
In an article appearing on Jacaranda FM’s website, Mr Makaneta stated that “the government should start offering diversity training and developing policies and consequences for racism” and that “regular dialogues on race and racism [should be held] on the school premises.” Later that evening, Mr Makaneta appeared on SABC News where he was basically given an open mic to repeat the same tropes.
Mr Makaneta appears to have a warm relationship with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. In July 2020, Makaneta and Lesufi even appeared together at an online African National Congress ("ANC") event held by the party’s Liliesleaf Farm branch.
In short, whenever a “racism” scandal occurs at a South African school – an event which, without fail, generates enormous negative publicity – you can be confident that within a matter of days the school or the Department of Education will appoint a firm of “diversity and transformation consultants”. Their services are not cheap, with some consultants charging up to R 70,000 per workshop.
Follow the money
It appears that, at least this time, Ms Oakley-Smith, Ms Ngoasheng, Mr Makaneta and Ms Nwadeyi are likely to be left disappointed.
On 30 July 2024, the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, appeared at Pretoria High School for Girls where he made a number of remarkable announcements. Firstly, he announced that the school’s principal, Mrs Erasmus, had been suspended from her position and that a 90-day investigation would be undertaken into her handling of the alleged racism incident.
Secondly, he announced that a “diversification or social cohesion programme” would be undertaken at the school and that this programme would be implemented by the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership.
Both of these announcements were premature, as the investigation into racism at the school had not yet been concluded. How could the MEC make these two decisions – suspending the principal and appointing diversity and transformation consultants – if he had not yet received confirmation that there was merit to the racism allegations? Why jump the gun in this manner?
Perhaps part of the answer lies can be found in analysing what is behind the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership. According to its 2020 Annual Report (which is the last report that I can find online), the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership:
"is an agency of the GDE established to research, develop and deliver cutting edge capacity-building programmes in the areas of School Management and Leadership, School Governance and Teacher Development. The relationship between MGSLG and the GDE is regulated by a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), renewable every five years."
Astonishingly, the organisation employs 186 staff and has an annual budget of R 277 million, which appears to come almost entirely from grants paid by the Gauteng provincial government.
The company’s board of directors reads like a veritable “who’s who” of the Gauteng ANC and its allied organisations.
- The board’s Chairperson, Mr Tseliso Ledimo (whose surname is apparently misspelt on the website as “Ledemo”) is the provincial secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union.
- The Deputy Chairperson, Mr Jacob Khawe was the provincial secretary of the Gauteng ANC from 2018 until 2022 having previously served as the Mayor of Emfuleni and as a member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. He was previously married to Khusela Diko, former spokesperson to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- In September 2020, Mr Bonolo Ramokhele was forced to resign as a board member of the South African Post Office after it emerged that he had been engaged in business dealings with Thato Abrahams, the husband of the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
- Mr Maupe (George) Matjila is the regional secretary of the ANC in the City of Tshwane.
- Mr Sonnyboy Masingi is the Chairperson of the Tembisa Hospital Board and serves as the spokesman for the ANC in the Ekurhuleni region.
- Ms Tlangi Mogale is a prominent member of the ANC and a former contender for the position of President of the ANC Youth League.
- According to social media posts, Ms Sivuyisiwe Gwebani appears to be a member of the Gauteng ANC Youth League.
You do not need to be a corporate governance specialist to identify the glaring conflict of interest here. On the one hand, the ANC-run Gauteng Education Department has been the primary instigator of the crisis at Pretoria High School for Girls. Officials have hyped the issue within the school and in the media, fundamentally impairing the rights of the accused students.
Meanwhile, the same Gauteng Education Department appears to be set to bring in the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership which, for all intents and purposes, appears to be little more than a glorified employment bureau for ANC comrades.
And what content will the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership be presenting at Pretoria High School for Girls? Very little information is disclosed on the institution’s website which consists mainly of stock photos along with promotional photos of ANC politicians including Premier Panyaza Lesufi and MEC Matome Chiloane.
As for the likely quality of the training, initial indications are alarming. According to David Saks, an author affiliated with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, in 2014 a project coordinator at the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership who was participating in a debate on the Middle East declared that “Hitler did right [to] kill these cockroaches”.
Lesufi’s useful idiots
The question that should be asked right now is where is the media in all of this? The answer is that they have spent the past two weeks parroting and amplifying the Gauteng Education Department’s narrative, blissfully unaware of the broader picture, whilst paying little heed to the privacy and constitutional rights of the accused students.
I think that journalists and broadcasters would serve their readers and listeners far better if they undertook an investigation into the workings of the diversity and transformation consulting industry.
How are contracts being awarded and for how much money? What services are being rendered? Which consultants are being awarded these contracts and what links do these consultants have to politicians?
South Africa’s journalists are not good at seeing through racial propaganda, but they are particularly adept at deconstructing tenders and contracts. Perhaps if they looked at the “diversity and transformation” industry with the same scepticism that they view the water tanker industry, things might suddenly start to make a bit more sense?
Another interesting line of inquiry concerns the role that this scandal plays in broader political dynamics in South Africa, specifically social cohesion and the viability of the Government of National Unity. It is abundantly clear that the Gauteng ANC does not share the appetite of its national body to form a coalition with the Democratic Alliance and is instead pushing for an alliance with the more radical Economic Freedom Fighters (“EFF”).
And so, it was no surprise to see ANC and EFF members protesting together outside the gates of Pretoria High School for Girls this week, with some EFF activists leading students in chanting “shoot the boer.” Perhaps the media could reflect upon the impact that highly suspect “racism” scandals have on the broader national narrative and the prospects of white and black South Africans working together effectively to build a successful shared future?
There's no need to take my word for it. Just look at what EFF aligned accounts are posting on social media. As Pravin Gordhan once said, all you need to do is join the dots.
This article is a shortened version of a long form essay that first appeared on the School Capture website.
