Elana Barkhuizen fully acquitted; MEC violates human rights – Solidarity welcomes SAHRC report 

19 January 2023

Solidarity welcomed the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) acquittal of Elana Barkhuizen, as well as the strong condemnation of the actions of the former North West MEC for education, Sello Lehari. 

“According to the report, the MEC is guilty of violating Barkhuizen’s right to privacy, her rights to due process, safety, freedom of movement and association, and on top of that he violated her dignity,” explained Dr Dirk Hermann, Chief Executive of Solidarity.

Barkhuizen, a former teacher at Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke, was plunged into a national uproar on 9 January 2019 after a photo, in which four black and eighteen white learners is sitting at separate tables in a classroom, was widely circulated in the media and shared on several social media platforms. Solidarity argues that several politicians subsequently fuelled racial tension by labelling the incident as racist without any further information. 

According to Solidarity, Barkhuizen and her family were even forced to move due to serious concerns about their safety after Lehari publicly exposed her name. 

Barkhuizen was notified on 10 January 2019 without any explanation that she had been suspended. Solidarity later approached the Labour Court on behalf of Barkhuizen and the court ruled that Barkhuizen’s suspension was illegal. 

The latest report from the SAHRC found, among other things, that all allegations of Barkhuizen or the school unfairly discriminating against learners, are not substantiated by facts. 

“Elana and her family went through hell; an entire community waws ruined by the hasty, populistic actions of opportunistic politicians – the foremost of which was Lehari himself. We are absolutely delighted that she has been completely acquitted but incredibly sorry for the trauma she and her loved ones had to endure,” Hermann further explained.

Solidarity furthermore stated that despite the tremendously long delay with the SAHRC report, it is good news that Lehari is finally held accountable for his shameful behaviour during the events. 

The report also found that the violent protest action at the school disrupted teaching and learning, therefore the protesters infringed upon the learners’ right to basic education. They have also placed the learners at risk which is in violation of their right not to jeopardise their well-being, education and development. 

“Elana Barkhuizen was brave enough to fight against the department and the hysterical media. Thanks to her, populistic politicians and the media will now think twice before ruining ordinary people’s lives with false allegations of racism,” Hermann concluded.

To read the full report by the SAHRC, click here. 

Issued by Connie Mulder, Head: Solidarity Research Institute, 19 January 2023