FRIDAY, 9.00AM:
THE North-West provincial government decided on Thursday to close Vryburg High School, scene of racial clashes between black and white pupils and parents.
The scholl is effectively being closed early for the Easter holidays, which were to begin on April 1. Said David van Wyk, spokesman for North-West Premier Popo Molefe: “It was decided to extend the holiday because the safety of the pupils and teachers can no longer be guaranteed.”
Racial conflict at the school has spilled over into the community, polarising the small town along racial lines. Added Van Wyk: “We want to give the task team [appointed to probe the conflict] the opportunity to finish its work and the community the opportunity to calm down. It is starting to get out of hand, and we do not want a situation where there is any loss of life.”
FRIDAY, 5.00PM:
Several other schools in Vryburg were closed on Friday, with pupils at Huhudi township’s Botagahang and Puleleeuw schools sent home, and many Huhudi pupils not arriving for class in a show of solidarity with black pupils at closed Vryburg High.
In the only incident of violence reported on Friday, Huhudi pupils stoned an police armoured personnel carrrier, which drove past the township’s community hall where a meeting was being held.
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