Julia Grey finds that when cultures clash, tempers run high
Hoerskool Delmas in Mpumalanga displays its cultural heritage most dramatically: an authentic ox wagon, reminiscent of those used by the Voortrekkers, is mounted proudly in front of the school buildings.
Principal Jurie de Jongh doesn’t believe this symbol of Boer history shows a bias in the school towards Afrikaner culture, which could make black learners feel at odds with their learning environment. It’s a part of history, he argues; and if the black pupils – who make up about 10% of the student body – wished to put an old-fashioned “box-cart” next to it, they could.
De Jongh believes that the constant prodding around schools for evidence of racism is in danger of becoming a witchhunt. “We must take each other at face value,” he says. “You can’t keep looking behind doors to see if you find a racist slur.”
An example of what De Jongh sees as an oversensitive attitude to race relations is how innocent language expressions can be misinterpreted. “Afrikaans is a very idiomatic language. If I use the expression ‘Stop being a bobajaan’, I am just using an expression,” he says. “It doesn’t mean I’m being racist.”
De Jongh also challenges the finding of a recent investigation into racism in Mpumalanga mixed-race schools that formerly white schools use inflated fees to exclude black learners. The fees for Hoerskool Delmas are R250 per month – significantly more than the R20 per month charged at the nearby Ho’rskool Sundra (whose enrolment is 80% black). But, he says, “The fees are calculated according to the school’s needs. We charge this amount so we can give a good education.”
He argues that the paltry government subsidy – R5 400 for this year – means the pressure is on the school to generate its own funds.
Other points highlighted in the provincial investigation as indicators of a school failing to integrate races are also in evidence at Hoerskool Delmas: the sports on offer include hockey, cricket, rugby and shooting, but not soccer, known to be popular in the black community. No African language is taught as a subject. All of the 22 teachers are white.
De Jongh admits he is feeling the effects of tension between the races. “If I speak to a black learner about cheating, then suddenly there are unfounded allegations that it’s racist.”
De Jongh feels his commitment to the new democratic order is self-evident in the fact that he has remained within the education system, and that his efforts to give quality education to all at his school go unappreciated: “I’m trying my best, and then I’m just criticised.”
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, September 2001.