Punish messengers of sham racism if investigation yields nothing

6 August 2025

Solidarity will closely watch the Gauteng Education Department's decision to interfere and to launch its own search for racism at Pretoria High School for Girls.

This follows the acquittal of 12 learners of the school by the governing body, whose disciplinary hearing found that the learners are innocent of charges of racism arising from conversations on a WhatsApp group in October 2023.

These WhatsApp conversations suddenly came to light in recent weeks and have received wide media coverage.

The 12 learners' suspension was lifted following the hearing, but the temporary 90 days suspension of the principal, Ms Phillipa Erasmus, because she is said to have ignored complaints regarding the very incident, apparently remains in force.

According to Johan Botha, head of Solidarity's Teacher Network, Solidarity wants to know why her suspension has not been lifted now that it appears her actions were indeed justified and an investigation found no sign of racism.

"This is something that the Gauteng MEC, Matome Chiloane, must answer. He says the provincial department of education respects the governing body's findings, but then he wants to conduct an ‘independent’ investigation himself, uninvited, to determine whether a culture of racism exists at the school.

"Solidarity's message to Mr Chiloane is two-fold: We will not hamper your zealous search for racism, but we do expect action if nothing comes to light, as the accusations of and suspicions about racism then quite possibly were false," says Botha.

According to Botha, the accusations and the subsequent media coverage have exposed the 12 learners and members of staff to criticism which led not only to reputational damage, but quite possibly to emotional damage as well.

"Furthermore, this will not be the first time that Gauteng government officials are guilty of the reckless peddling of racial conflict. As with Elana Barkhuizen, many teachers, learners and schools have been falsely accused of racism, without those who were responsible for the complaints actually being held to account.

“These false racism complaints should be viewed in a much more serious light. In such cases, Solidarity demands action against people whose untruthfulness stirs up racial conflict in a malicious way – at a time when South Africans are trying to build bridges between communities," says Botha.

Issued by Johan Botha, Spokesperson, Head: Solidarity Teacher Network, 6 August 2024