EFF Western Cape is disgusted but not flabbergasted by the blatant display of perceived white supremacy and institutionalized racism demonstrated by the Strand High School

16 January 2023

EFF Western Cape is disgusted but not flabbergasted by the blatant display of perceived white supremacy and institutionalized racism by the Strand High School where the majority of its personnel are white and black people are systematically excluded.

Earlier today the school had posted on its official Facebook page a picture of its newly appointed WHITES ONLY personnel with no single black person to show the depth of racism at this school. The aforementioned picture showing white males and females is accompanied by the following caption, "Hoerskool Strand verwelkom die volgende nuwe personeel in die Arendfamilie...".

Twenty nine years into democracy it is an indictment on both the African National Congress (ANC) that was once in charge of this province and as well as the current racist Democratic Alliance (DA) that runs this province that we still have WHITES ONLY schools that practice racism with impunity.

EFF Western Cape has it on good authority that almost more than 95% of the school personnel is constituted by whites and the rest are people of colour and black Africans.

This conspicuous display and celebration of whiteness by the Strand High School is a microcosm of the entrenched and institutionalised racism that is perpetuated by the DA led government and its right wing allies who still see black people as sub-humans who cannot claim the domain of thought.

This sad state of affairs at Strand High School and many other similar schools sends out a wrong message that seeks to suggest that only white people are worthy of either studying or being employed by this school and that the school sees no need to bring in people from other cultural backgrounds to form part of the school. In so doing the school positions white supremacy as a sine qua non in the development of society and engineering of the future of this province. It cannot be that we still have schools whose culture and ethos is rooted in white supremacist ideals that seek to engender racism.

EFF Western Cape calls on the Western Cape Minister of Education, David Maynier, Western Cape Education Department (WCED), School Governing Body (SGB), and other relevant structures to investigate the recruitment processes of the school with immediate effect. Furthermore, we call for a thorough scrutiny of its policy and culture.

We also send out a strong message and condemn other schools in this province who may be perpetuating this racism. Any form of racism is violence and a crime against humanity and it should be characterized and treated as such. #RacismMustFall

Issued by Unathi Ntame, Provincial Chairperson, EFF Western Cape, 17 January 2023