“The problem with the rules is that they are still written through a white gaze so our hair is supposed to conform to what our white counterparts’ hair is supposed to look like”, Pretoria alum and columnist Zama Ndlovu says.
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It’s been 21 years since the fall of Apartheid, yet a South African school on Monday was accused of racism for allegedly telling black girls to straighten their hair and not wear “afro” hairstyles.
The letter attached is addressed to Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and school Headmistress Karen du Toit.
She described an incident where a school girl in Grade 8, whose picture was trending on Twitter, was told that her Afro had reached its limit.
The students have also started an online petition, which has gathered more than 10,000 signatures since it was created on Friday. “I really want to arrest the situation before it gets out of control”, Lesufi said.
“Keep up the good work, young girls, it is very important”, she told News24 shortly after addressing a TechnoGirl event in Sandton, Johannesburg.
“We wanted to show that we have had enough of the bigotry and racism that we face at school”, a pupil, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera on Monday.
White minority rule and legalised racism, known as apartheid, ended in South Africa in 1994.
Protests erupted outside a girls’ school in South Africa after the institution reportedly instructed black students to straighten their hair. They were met with closed gates, armed police and security personnel, while staff at the school were instructed not to do anything and carry on as normal.
“Firstly, we support the stance of Pretoria Girls High students to protect their right to have natural hair”, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa tweeted Tuesday.
“That is not fair because some pupils have natural (ly curly) hair so we have agreed with the student governing body that it be suspended”, he said.
Wilson declined to speak to City Press and said the media knew more about Lesufi’s visit than he did because they had not been contacted.
Shabangu said it was important for girls to be aware that they were handsome and did not need to change themselves to feel lovely.
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Students also told Lesufi they were forbidden from speaking in African languages on campus, “yet other learners are allowed to express themselves in Afrikaans” – a language brought to South African by the Dutch, Lesufi wrote.
