LISTEN: Hoërskool Rustenburg pupils face disciplinary hearings over Nazi salute
Several pupils at Hoërskool Rustenburg will face a disciplinary hearing over an incident on school grounds.
This after a widely circulated video showed them performing a Nazi salute.
The video, initially uploaded on TikTok, shows pupils taking part in karaoke during the school’s academic week.
It’s understood pupils on stage gestured the Nazi salute while singing ‘Erika’, a song associated with WWII and Germany.
SGB chairperson Bernhard Visser has condemned the incident.
“It’s definitely not the identity and the character of our school,” said Visser.
“Ignorance is definitely not an excuse. I came to the conclusion that this incident is a mirror of self-reflection, this is an opportunity to look ourselves in the mirror and understand that we’ve probably failed this group of students, that this education was not educated on the history and why these symbols are so sensitive to our communities.”
According to Visser, school management has engaged with the SA Jewish Board of Deputies in a bid to find common ground.
“They approached us in a sensitive manner, with an outstretched hand. They said they’re willing to help us by putting a system in place by which we can educate the kids and create sensitivity towards other groups and to bring them into the picture that it’s not just a symbol they’re making but that they’re opening up an old wound of an atrocity of the past that the world would like to forget about."
The Jewish Board of Deputies is expected to meet with the school again on Monday for more engagements on the matter.
“We really hope what is happening in the media regarding this incident will raise a flag across our country for learners in schools to be more sensitive towards one another,” said Visser.
The North West Department of Education has also launched a probe into the matter.
The incident comes amid an uproar over a spike in cases of racism after a first-year student at Stellenbosch University was caught on camera urinating on the property of a fellow pupil at Huis Marais.
Listen to Visser below:
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