A decision has been taken by Gauteng education authorities to move learners studying at Crowthorne Christian Academy to neighbouring schools.

This comes after a video went viral of Andries Hendrik Booysen (51), a member of staff at the independent school in Midrand, Gauteng, on Monday physically refusing a 13-year-old learner entry into the classroom because of her hairstyle. Booysen allegedly also pulled the learner by her dreadlocks.

He was arrested and appeared in the Midrand Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and was granted R2,000 bail.

The school has been closed indefinitely.

Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department was aware of the incident.

“We condemn any form of ill-treatment of the learner, and we will not tolerate any discrimination of learners,” Mabona said.

The learner, Mabona said, was offered alternative schooling and counselling.

He added that the school had been operating illegally.

‘Spaza shops’

In the meantime, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) on Wednesday afternoon called on the Department of Basic Education to rein in private schools that were being run as “spaza shops”.

Sadtu said it condemned the assault and ejection of the 13-year-old learner from her class for refusing to cut her dreadlocks.

“Such an act was a gross violation of the learner’s rights. Children have a right to be free from all forms of violence, to enjoy their education and not to be treated in a degrading manner,” Sadtu’s statement read.

Sadtu said it was “alarming” that some schools were still using hair policies to discriminate against African learners nearly 30 years into the new democracy.

“African hair is at the centre of the many reports of learners being discriminated against and barred from schools due to their hair not conforming to the school’s code of conduct… which use eurocentric or Western values to define what is neat.”

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While the legality of the school has come under the spotlight, Sadtu said the department should not grant Crowthorne’s owners a licence to run any school because they had demonstrated “no empathy” for children, but simply used the school as a “profit-making venture”.

“We reiterate that education is not a commodity, but a public good,” the union said.

Enter the EFF

The EFF’s Gauteng office said this afternoon that the school had a policy that only accepted learners with “natural” hair.

This policy, the EFF stated, is predicated on the “racist notion” that natural means relaxed and straightened hair inherent to white people, whereas curly hair and dreadlocks, characteristic of black people’s hair, were considered unnatural.

“The EFF in Gauteng condemns the school and its policy which effectively institutionalises racism by raising white people’s genotypical and phenotypical characteristics as the standard for what is natural and those of African people as unnatural,” the statement read.

The EFF stated it deplored such a policy because it suggested there was something abnormal and problematic about African people.

“Moreover, we also note the fact that the school is not fully registered with the Department of Education. However, this is not a surprise as the ANC government has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is not in charge of its affairs.” DM