/ 15 October 1997

First public probe into ‘racism’

WEDNESDAY, 5.00PM

SOUTH AFRICA will have its first public hearing into ‘racism’ at schools, the government’s Human Rights Commission announced on Wednesday.

Three commissioners, assisted by two education experts, will hear written and oral evidence about the explulsion of twelve youths from Springs Boys High School in Gauteng.

A commission statement said twelve pupils at the school appeared before a disciplinary committee in August last year after a drunken binge on school premises led to violence and damage to school property. But the punishments differed, with a black pupil expelled, and a white pupil suspended for five days.

Subpoenas have been served on the school’s principal, its governing body chairman, several parents and the 12 pupils involved in the drunken incident.

The Human Rights Commission, which has a much lower public profile than the Truth Commission, was set up in late 1995 as a watchdog over the Bill of Rights provisions in the new constitution. It is chaired by theologian and former exile Dr Barney Pityana.