Witbank Technical School brawl ‘nothing to do with race’, says premier
Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane says preliminary investigations suggest the recent violence at Witbank Technical High School cannot be linked to race.
Mtsweni-Tsipane made the remarks when she returned to the school on Monday morning.
Teaching and learning resumed at the school on Monday after it was suspended for a week.
“To me, this was not a racial incident as I am saying. The reason why we have put these two teachers into precautionary suspension is because of their behaviour. They were trying to correct something that is not right, but as they did that it, there was a question of how they did it. And ultimately when a white child and black children fight, society tends to see it as a racial thing.
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“What exacerbated the situation was the issue of this Hofmeyr of coming to school and trying to influence these children along racial lines which has not assisted us at all. We are condemning that with all the contempt it deserves. This was not a racial issue, it was a question of being managed a bit differently.”
The school in Emalahleni hit the headlines after video footage capture a brawl between white and black parents outside the premises.
The brawl followed a similar incident between a black and a white pupil inside the school's premises, which was believed to be racially motivated.
The violence subsequently led to the suspension of classes for a week.
