SOUTH AFRICA – Members of anti-immigration party, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), on Monday marched on Esikhisini Primary School, a public educational institution in Pretoria, to prevent school authorities from giving the green light to the teaching of Shona.
20 percent of students, alongside the chairperson of the School Governing Body (SGB), are reportedly Zimbabwean.
After joining party members toyi-toying and singing songs calling for the removal of the Zimbabweans, the deputy president of the PA, Kenny Kunene, accused the chairperson of the SGB of orchestrating the campaign to have Shona taught at the school.
“The school has applied to the department of education to teach Shona here.
“We met with the principal Mr Nkabinde who says he has not applied to the department of education for Shona to be taught here, but our information is that the chair of the SGB is a Zimbabwean and he is the one who is orchestrating with the department to teach Shona.
“This is a public school. Shona is not in the curriculum. We understand that the department is entertaining this nonsense. We are here to demonstrate our anger and dissatisfaction at what they are trying to do to our communities.”
He said they would find parents whose children were denied a place at the school and then direct the principal to “take out a Zimbabwean and put a South African.”
The PA, led by Gayton Mckenzie, has adopted a hard-line anti-immigration as South Africa approaches its elections.
McKenzie previously led a group of activists to the Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe where they filmed Zimbabweans crossing over into South Africa without following immigration formalities. Telly