Publications
- Tensions at Witbank Technical High School have been brewing since last week.
- Teaching has been suspended after clashes broke out at the school on Monday.
- The incident is said to have been caused by a fight at the school last week between black and white pupils.
Classes have been suspended at Witbank Technical High School in Mpumalanga for a week after clashes between parents over racism allegations broke out.
Chaos broke out at the school on Monday morning, with black and white parents physically assaulting each other at the school's gates. The incident is said to have been caused by a fight at the school last week between black and white pupils.
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"We have decided to suspend classes for a week so there can be that cooling-off period and be able to allow all emotions to calm down," Mpumalanga Education MEC Bonakele Majuba told Newzroom Afrika.
Last week, a video surfaced on social media showing black and white pupils fighting each other on the school's premises. This resulted in the suspension of some pupils.
"In the morning, I had a meeting with the SGB [school governing body] and the management of the school.
"We agreed there that the children, who were suspended, will have to be given a chance to write exams and also a team will further investigate if those were the only children who were affected so we can have fairness so that all children, who were found to have done wrong, will have to be disciplined irrespective of the colour of their skin," Majuba said in a statement.
The provincial education department added it would be meeting with the parents whose children were involved in the fight.
Racism allegations were investigated at the school last year, and the department said it would engage the school to implement the recommendations of that investigation.
Classes will resume at the school next Monday.
