It boggles my mind how it is possible that 30 years after democracy and eight years after this was first raised, black pupils still experience discrimination and feel unwelcome.

On Mandela Day, a group of girls at Pretoria High School for Girls held a protest to highlight alleged racism that they experienced at the school. According to these pupils, racist messages were spread by some matrics through a WhatsApp group and despite complaints to the school, little or nothing was done. They also complained that they were not allowed to speak in their own mother tongue during breaks and style their natural hair.

I was totally gobsmacked when I read this. The issues of hair and language were raised in 2016 and in 2020 and received global media attention. How on Earth is it possible that the governing body and teachers have still not sorted this out? It just boggles my mind how it is possible that 30 years after democracy and eight years after this was first raised, black pupils still experience discrimination and feel unwelcome.

I'm also certain that the experiences of the pupils at PHSG are not unique.

Many of the old model C schools still have an attitude of "us and them". Either overtly or through acts of omission (i.e. changing school policies), they seem to say: "You are welcome into our (white) school,...