North school denies racism accusations

The management and governing body of Laerskool Danie Malan have rejected accusations of racism made against it.

Addressing accusations in the media, the said in a statement that the language demographic of the area was predominantly Afrikaans and Setswana as per the previous census not English as suggested.

The school refuted accusations that there were 15 Afrikaans learners per class while English learners are “packed like sardines”.

“The Department of Basic Education has been at the school and is aware of the true facts.”

The school reiterated that it is not responsible for the placement of learners in Grade 1, as this and the responsibility to build schools was the domain of the department.

This is not the first time the school has had to deal with protest action.

In March 2021 Rekord reported on a placement protest at the school when police had to step in as two parent groups scuffled outside.

It was reported that one group’s children were admitted into the school, while the other protested for admission and reportedly chained shut the gates to prevent entry.

Later that month, the school obtained a court interdict against another planned protest after the EFF invited its members to join the picket at Laerskool Danie Malan and Pretoria North high school.

A memorandum demanding that learners be placed in schools closer to their homes was understood to be submitted during the protest.

However Tshwane EFF secretary Nqobile Mhlongo distanced the party from the planned march, saying that the poster doing the rounds on social media was not an official communique to supporters.

An announcement by the Gauteng department of education (GDE) on January 13, noted that its officials were working on placing an additional 97 Grade 1 learners whose parents and guardians had applied online.

GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona said placement challenges had been identified within high-pressure areas, where certain schools received a much higher number of applications than they could accommodate.

“To alleviate capacity pressure the GDE is building satellite schools in high-pressure areas.

The schools will be an extension of certain high-pressure schools but built on a different site not far from the main school.”

Two satellite schools Theresapark primary and Theresapark secondary are currently under construction in the north of Pretoria.

Laerskool Danie Malan SGB identified land suitable for the building of the satellite school and was in ongoing negotiations as it remained committed to finding a long-term solution to the shortage of spots in the schools in the area.

Local DA ward councillor Sipho Mtakai and colleagues inspected schools in the area for their readiness to start teaching and learning immediately.

Laerskool Danie Malan, Hoërskool Pretoria North, Hoërskool Gerrit Maritz and Laerskool Theresapark, were identified as schools in high-demand.

As the GDE readies itself to place an additional 474 Grade 8 learners, Hoërskool Gerrit Maritz has agreed to take in more learners as it was building four additional classrooms.

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