Lesufi lashes St John's for handling of racism incident
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has met with the management of Saint John's College in Johannesburg and has given the school until 1.00pm on Friday to deal with a teacher accused of racism.
Parents also protested outside the school demanding that the school fire the teacher.
"I was deeply disappointed, irritated and felt undermined that people want to justify and romanticise racism and sweep it under the carpet," Lesufi says.
Lesufi says he has instructed the school to deal with the issue immediately.
"I was unhappy with the conduct of the principal in explaining the situation," Lesufi says.
Lesufi says the teacher must be fired, because he can't be in the same environment as the students.
"You can't have somebody that has been found guilty of racism still moving around the school premises, still interacting with the same learners."
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Lesufi says the teacher must also be reported to the South African Council of Educators.
"If found guilty by the South African Council of Educators, he cannot continue to be an educator within the schooling environment of the Republic of South Africa.
"I gave them the deadline of 1.00pm today to respond to the three issues that I have raised. I have also indicated that if they don't arrive at a decision that will satisfy me, including the public statement that they have released, we have no choice but to go our different ways and we will deal with it in a legal way."