Four students from Pinelands High School in Cape Town, South Africa, are set to face a disciplinary hearing following a viral video depicting black students being auctioned off as slaves.
The footage, which shows students in a cage being bid on by their peers, sparked widespread outrage after it was shared on social media last Friday.
The incident, involving eighth graders around 14 years old, has drawn condemnation from various quarters.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched its own investigation into the matter.
“It is disturbing that these incidences continue to occur 30 years into democracy,” the SAHRC stated, highlighting the troubling nature of such incidents occurring in schools.
The four students believed to be responsible for the mock auction are currently suspended. Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department, confirmed that the investigation is ongoing, with 24 students interviewed so far.
“Steps will also be taken against other learners who may have transgressed certain provisions within the code of conduct,” Hammond added.
The video came to light after one of the pupils, who was reportedly targeted in the mock auction, showed the footage to his mother, Merle Potgieter.
She then alerted the school’s management and local media. Potgieter claimed her son resisted being forced into the cage with other black students, and noted that the alleged perpetrators were mixed-race, as described in South Africa’s racial terminology.
In the video, students can be heard calling out bids up to 100,000 rand ($5,400; £4,200), with one boy shouting, “Going once… going twice… sold!”
Counseling support has been provided to those affected, and all grade eight students have participated in debriefing sessions.
Slavery has historical roots in Cape Town dating back to the 1650s, with the legacy of apartheid contributing to ongoing racial segregation and inequality in the city.
MP Makhi Feni, chair of the parliamentary committee on education, has urged schools involved in such incidents to implement programs that promote social cohesion and national unity.
“The question we all ought to ask genuinely is what emboldens a person, hardly a teenager, with no knowledge of where we come from as a country, to act in a manner that points to racism,” Feni said.
The opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party is calling for the students to be suspended for at least two years and to perform “community service in black areas.”
The party has threatened to organize protests and potentially shut down the school if the handling of the incident is deemed unsatisfactory.
Source-BBC
