Parents and pupils at PHSG dissatisfied with school's handling of racism scandal

JOHANNESBURG - Parents and pupils at Pretoria Girls' High have expressed dissatisfaction over the school's handling of its latest racism scandal.

The school has been marred by allegations of a whites-only WhatsApp group where racist micro-aggressions were being shared.

The principal, Phillipa Erasmus, has been suspended for three months pending an investigation.

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According to Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane the alleged whites-only WhatsApp group was reported to the school leadership last year but was not addressed.

"That's where we are with the principal – that you knew and you knew the gravity of the situation."

While some parents said that the school had failed to address the matter urgently and to communicate effectively, this mother and daughter want the school to get to the bottom of what happened.

"There are obviously concerns but we are hoping the school will do the necessary investigations and clear whatever the allegations are. There has been a bit of tension over the past two weeks and some of the teachers are urging us not to speak on it, I think to protect themselves, but it has been quite a tense environment."

Chiloane said that the department was working on a diversity programme that both pupils and parents would be taken through.