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The Charter of the South African Teachers’ Union (SAOU) fully upholds the tenets of the Constitution of South Africa and strives to maintain a fully inclusive educational institution to the benefit of all educators and learners in South Africa.

As such, the SAOU condemns outright any form of racism promoted by an individual, an institution or national authority.

The recently published photograph on social media allegedly taken at the Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke and the accusations made are divisive and require attention.

The SAOU will never endorse or attempt to defend racial discrimination, but unfortunately the question has to be asked: Is this not a case of political opportunism? Has a single photograph not deliberately been used for nefarious purposes as other photographs of the same class reflect a much more positive and inclusive approach?

The SAOU calls on the education and parent community to allow the authorities involved to carry out their investigation into the incident and to refrain from escalating the unfortunate incident out of proportion until the facts of the matter are known.

Issued by The Charter of the South African Teachers’ Union