The community was up in arms to protest this allegation on 16 September. A community member who lives next to the school, Tshepo Monyamane, told Midrand Reporter, “The principal was seen chasing a Grade 11 pupil calling him Xhosa ndin’, loosely translated as ‘you little Xhosa’.”
He said that the community feels strongly that Xhosa speaking pupils are not welcome at the school, and not many are enrolled.
The Gauteng Department of Educations’ spokesperson, Phumla Sekhonyane said that the department was aware of these allegations but they were not true.
“We have met several times with community structures and the parents of the affected pupils. This school and Kaalfontein Secondary School, which is a fence away, have been affected by this language issue.”
She added that both schools are in close proximity and offer four African languages.
“The situation demands more teachers to cater for all the languages at the expense of other subjects. Tsosoloso Ya Africa Secondary School is phasing out IsiXhosa as a subject for Grade 8 to Grade 12 because pupils learning the language are fewer and there is one IsiXhosa teacher at the school, the school will retain Tsonga as it has more pupils to teach.”
Sekhonyane explained that parents were aware of the changes but they felt their children were being unfairly treated. She said, IsiXhosa and Tsonga were most affected.
