KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu has promised to appoint an independent panel by Friday that will help deal with racism allegations that have surfaced again at Grosvenor Girls’ High School in Durban.

Last week classes were disrupted at the school following the racism allegations.

The learners are accusing the teachers of calling them monkeys and other derogatory terms.

The MEC visited the school on Tuesday to speak with learners, the school governing body and the school management.

He has instructed the department's head of department to appoint the panel.

In 2019 the school was also marred by the same allegations of racism and the MEC said the panel appointed would help in resolving the issue once and for all.

He acknowledged that the department made the mistake of not appointing an independent panel when the issues of racism surfaced in 2019.

He encouraged students to give their personal accounts to the panel.

“When findings and recommendations are made before us we will act without fear. It is better to get an independent panel,” said Mshengu. 

Further, the MEC explained that the department wants to deal with these issues expeditiously and added that he has advised that the panel be given clear time frames with deadlines. 

Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) tried to disrupt Tuesday’s meeting and the MEC said it was unfortunate that the party's opportunism was occurring while the department was trying to work on the issue.

“We will deal with anyone involved in these allegations of racism and maladministration. We are not going to succumb to the pressure from the EFF and cut corners because ultimately if we do that, we will not serve justice to the learners,” he added.

The independent panel will be given 21 days to finish its investigations and the MEC pleaded with learners to allow teaching and learning to continue during that time.

“Learners must be in class so that they don’t lose time in terms of teaching and learning,” he stressed.