A mother says she took her bullied child out of Curro High School in Somerset West because they are “racist”.
The mom says her complaints to the principal of her daughter being bullied fell on deaf ears because she is black.
The Grade 9 pupil had allegedly received threats from another learner.
The family’s lawyer Unathi Mbebe says: “There was a rumour going around the school and my client’s daughter was accused of starting it.
“The ‘perpetrator’ kept cyber bullying the victim and sent her voice notes stating that when she sees my client’s daughter, she is going to beat her up.”
She says the first incident was on May 11 and the mom reported this to the school.
“The perpetrator was called into the office but subsequently nothing happened.
“There was a netball practice on May 12 and there was an alleged physical altercation which the perpetrator denies happened.”
Mbebe tells the Daily Voice the girl was afraid and refused to go to school again.
“My client decided to withdraw her daughter from the school because she wasn’t comfortable with paying exorbitant fees and this is happening.”
The attorney suspects that the case wasn’t solved because both learners involved are black.
“My client wanted to know that because the school is predominantly a white school, is it a situation whereby it is two black kids that they’ve turned a blind eye? Would they have turned a blind eye if it was a white kid?”
The Congress of South African Students went to the school on Monday to demand the suspension of the alleged bully.
“Our call is for the perpetrator to be immediately suspended from school and placed on a recreational programme where she will learn how to behave and treat fellow learners.”
A representative from the school told the handful of marchers that she will not be addressing anyone until she speaks to Curro’s head office.
Curro’s spokesperson spokesperson, Natasha Mkhize says the school “refutes the misinformation as communicated in a statement issued by COSAS, Western Cape”.
“Curro Holdings reiterates that the information is not an accurate reflection of its schools and the situation referred to and reserves its rights in this regard,” says Mkhize.
“The group’s privacy policies prevent its schools from providing exact details of any incident involving any of its learners. The protection of its learners, their privacy and best interest remain a top priority.
“Curro can however confirm that there was an isolated incident between two female students of the same race. One learner issued threatening voice-notes to another after school hours.
“The school intervened on request of the complaining parent.”
“The necessary internal disciplinary processes and subsequent mediation occurred, while support was offered to the family.”
She adds: “It also must be noted that COSAS entered the school’s premises on 24 May 2022 under false pretences while one of its representatives pretended to be a relative of learners to be collected from the school.
“Such action is deemed to be unacceptable and reckless as a school is regarded as a place of safety for learners. The group will take strong action against any person and/or organisation that will jeopardise this.
“As with all of its schools, the group reiterates that it is completely committed to unity and racial cohesion and does not condone any form of discrimination, cyber bullying, religious intolerance, hate speech and derogatory language, or anything that affects the dignity of a human being.”