The EFF welcomes the firing of the principal of Wilgehof primary school in Bloemfontein
22 October 2014
The Economic Freedom Fighters welcomes the decision of the Department of Education to fire the principal of Wilgehof Primary School in Bloemfontein where racist satire reducing the person of CIC Julius Malema to a monkey displayed. The school also still displays the old apartheid flag, a direct refusal to recognise the new democratic dispensation (see report).
No other institutions should be at the pinnacle of embracing the democratic and human rights values than our schools and education centres. This sets an example to both learners and unaffected spectators that indeed it is wrong to reduce black people to monkeys and hold on to the old apartheid symbols, racial exploitation and exclusion.
Racism still lives within many of the white communities in South Africa, demonstrated by continuous displays of old apartheid flags, open referral to domestic and farm workers as kaffirs and satirical reduction of blacks into animals. All these acts which are an open offence on the humanity of black people go on uninterrupted and unpunished. Thus, the Wilgenhof incident is one is many and acting on it sends a strong message that a dent on black dignity will never be punished.
South Africa must always act strongly and harshly on anti-black racism; this country must be one place in the world where blacks can live proudly and fearlessly as blacks without any apology for their race.