The Pretoria High Court has dismissed an application by the Pretoria High School for Girls’ governing body (SGB), which sought to compel the Gauteng Department of Education to release an investigative report into racism allegations at the school.
According to the court, the report that was commissioned by the Gauteng MEC for Education, followed earlier investigations including an internal investigation and an independent review by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, both of which found racism accusations against 12 learners to be unfounded.
WhatsApp chat about black learners
This after a screenshots of a WhatsApp group that was titled “whites only” in July 2024 was leaked and went viral. It was alleged that the 12 learners [all white] at Pretoria Girls High made racial remarks about their black classmates.
They were later suspended.
The school alleged that despite the MEC publicly referring to the new report about the incident during a media briefing, the document has never been provided to the school.
When the SGB requested access, it was instructed to use the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
Although it initially lodged a PAIA application, the SGB abandoned that route and instead attempted to obtain the report through Rule 53, which compels government bodies to produce records underlying decisions challenged in court.
Judge Graham Moshoana ruled that the school’s strategy was legally misplaced.
Process was legally followed
The report, he explained, is not a record of proceedings but the decision under challenge. Therefore it cannot be demanded under Rule 53.
“The report is the outcome of the investigation, not the process. Rule 53 cannot be used as a substitute for PAIA,” said judge Moshoana.
The judge highlighted that the SGB appeared to seek the benefit of the law without following the law. This after abandoning its PAIA application when it became inconvenient.
“Since the department had not failed to comply with Rule 53, the court found Rule 30A, which allows for compelled compliance, did not apply.
“This Court suspects that the SGB requires the Report for self-gratification – the aha! moment. No racism was found to exist, or to consider possible delictual action against various parties, including the respondents. Such, in my considered view, is an abuse of court processes and subversive in nature.
“The ruling leaves the SGB with only one viable legal pathway. [That of] reviving its PAIA request if it wishes to obtain the report,” said the judge.
READ MORE: MEC to launch inquiry into racism at Pretoria High School for Girls
