Girls school denied access to racism probe

THE Pretoria High School for Girls was dealt a major blow when the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria turned down its bid to force the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) to provide the report on the results of a commissioned investigation into racism allegations at the school.

- ZELDA VENTER

The department in November last year revealed some details of its mandated investigation by Mdladlamba Attorneys to probe allegations of a culture of racism at the school. However, it did not share a copy of the report with the school’s governing body.

When asked for a copy, the department directed the school to the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). This Act affords a requester the right of access to records held by public bodies.

The investigation came after pupils were accused of creating a “whites only” WhatsApp group. They were also sharing insensitive messages with racial undertones. The allegations relating to the WhatsApp group were reported to the school principal and deputy principal in October 2023 by three learners.