'Racist' initiation: Pupil faces charges

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Newcastle - A top netball player at a Newcastle school is under criminal investigation for duping two new teammates into eating baby food, allegedly laced with saliva, during an initiation ceremony.

Police are investigating a case of crimen injuria against the Grade 11 pupil at Ferrum High School in the northern KwaZulu-Natal town, amid accusations of racism.

She was also suspended from participating in sports pending the finalisation of an inquiry by the KZN education department.

The pupil’s mother declined to comment on Monday night.

School racially polarised

A Ferrum High pupil told The Witness the incident had racially polarised the school, with white pupils siding with the Grade 11 pupil and black pupils backing the two new players, aged 17 and 18.

She said it was not even certain that there was saliva in the baby food.

Khosi Mbuli, the mother of the 18-year-old, is a Zulu teacher at the school. She and other parents picketed outside the school on Monday in protest at its alleged tardiness in dealing with the matter.

Mbuli said she reported the incident to the school governing body on Thursday - the day of the incident - but no action was taken.

This was clear from a netball match on Saturday, when the girl was still playing in the team and had allegedly showed no remorse.

The initiation occurred on the school premises.

Although there were three new players in the team, only the two black teammates were present.

It was not clear why the third player was not there

An angry Mbuli said: “This is wrong. It is racism.

“Why was the white girl not there when they were forced to drink this Purity?

“Just because they are black they are treated this way. No, this thing needs to end.

“They planned this in their class to do it to blacks. They see nothing wrong to this thing. Some even say it’s not a big deal. They are affected psychologically.”

Dignity violated

She said her child was traumatised and would receive counselling.

Asked whether the protest would affect her relationship with her teaching colleagues, Mbuli said she had acted as a parent, not a teacher. She added that she would stay in the school and her child would finish her matric there.

“I am not going to move from this school because of this. I don’t care about what they are saying about this. I will stand for the truth and the rights of my child,” said Mbuli.

Her daughter told The Witness the incident was part of first netball team’s initiation of new team members.

“We suspected that there was something wrong as it was more liquid, but she [the top player] said it was just because it was in the sun. We drank it.

“After that one of her classmates told us that she had spat in it in their class and mixed it. When we confronted her she denied it.

“My dignity as a human being is violated and I feel bad about this entire thing that happened to me.” She said the police had video footage of the alleged incident.

Another protesting parent, who asked not to be named, said it was a very serious offence that needed to be addressed quickly.

Investigation

KwaZulu-Natal education spokesperson Sihle Mhlotshwa said the principal informed the department of the event on Friday.

He could not comment further until the investigation was completed.

Ferrum headmaster WF Swanepoel said he could not give any information while the district office was investigated it.

National Association of Schools Governing Bodies’ chairperson Reginald Chiliza said that if the claims were true, “such incidents are undermining black people’s dignity. Maybe this is an influence from home - or she was just being a naughty child”.

Provincial police spokesperson Captain Thulani Zwane confirmed a crimen injuria case was being investigated.
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O FFS.. Come on.. I drank a lot more vile things during my initiation as SRC member. Why is this an issue?
 
GhostSixFour said:
O FFS.. Come on.. I drank a lot more vile things during my initiation as SRC member. Why is this an issue?
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Because only the black students were made to do it.

I don't see any good coming from this thread, the debates surrounding it have been covered repeatedly in other threads (just search for racism) I suggest the mods close this before it becomes another 30 page futile debate.
 
it must be hard on the kids
 
evilstebunny said:
The racism was from black people.
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Yeah, been a couple of racist black people kicked off here too. On News24 I think some people just setup fake FB accounts to troll because a lot of the users only have 1 picture and no other detail put up in their profiles.
 
They should just target the initiation aspect and not focus on the races of those involved.
 
WTF is the point of initiation anyway? So stupid.
 
efitol said:
WTF is the point of initiation anyway? So stupid.
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Initiation is used to create bonds. At school, you have different levels to help the children form cohesive groups. Prefects initiate the new grade 8's because nothing brings a group together more than a common enemy or adversary. On the sports field, initiation is tradition and it helps cement a team spirit. Notice how I mention initiation and not abuse or victimization, because there is a definite line in the sand in regards to what you can and what you can't do.
 
They ate Purity as part of initiation and its worthy of an outroar? Wow, can they please grow F up, seeing racism in every little thing.
 
Must admit sounds a little like making a mountain out of a mole hole , I hate initiations in general but this one seemed very harmless. The problem with today is that the moment its a "non white" and a "white" person involved people shout racism.
 
sparticus said:
Must admit sounds a little like making a mountain out of a mole hole , I hate initiations in general but this one seemed very harmless. The problem with today is that the moment its a "non white" and a "white" person involved people shout racism.
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Kinda ironic.
 
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