Basic education in 'shock and horror' over 'blackface' incident

The chairperson of the portfolio committee on Basic Education, Joy Maimela, has expressed “shock and disgust” over the “blackface” incident involving an educator at  Duineveld High School in Upington. 

The image of the teacher who painted his face black and wore a curly wig at a school function went viral on social media. 

Maimela pointed out that this was the second incident where "racist behaviour" was displayed at the school in the past year. 

“I am utterly shocked that an educator would partake in an incident that clearly has been identified as racist behaviour. I am, however, not surprised that racism once again poked out its ugly head at the school. During an oversight visit by the committee in October last year, the committee noted several exclusionary practices at the school and urged the Northern Cape Education Department (NCED) and the national Department of Basic Education to address this.”

She indicated that in September last year, a video went viral of a learner repeatedly using the k-word. 

“In the video, which has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people, the pupil and three others join a live TikTok chat with a man identified as content creator @UncleSeeno, calling him a “k***** and a n*****”.

Maimela indicated that she had highlighted concerns that the school application forms and all its policies were exclusively in Afrikaans. 

“By default, they are excluding any person who does not speak Afrikaans.”

She commended the swift action taken by the MEC for the Department of Education, Abraham Vosloo, by placing the implicated teacher on precautionary suspension, on the understanding that the investigation would unfold free from intimidation.

“During our visit, we were assured that the school was undergoing social cohesion programmes for learners. Clearly, learners are not the only ones in need of such sessions.

"We will interrogate the matter further with the provincial education department to establish what progress, if any, has been made with these sessions,” she concluded.