South African police fire tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons at anti-racism protesters in front of high school
Protests led to violence outside a South African high school Friday for the second time this month, with police shooting rubber bullets, tear gas and high-pressured water at demonstrators.
The protests near the Cape Town high school were in response to a reported “whites-only” prom-type dance, The Associated Press reported.
“We were meant to be excluded,” one mixed-race student at Brackenfell High told local paper The Daily Voice.
In the Brackenfell neighborhood of Cape Town, 80% of people are white, but in South Africa as a whole, 80% of people are Black.
Brackenfell High had to cancel its traditional end-of-year senior dance because of coronavirus, according to Reuters.
A replacement ball was held Oct. 17 at a winery, the Daily Voice reported. None of the school’s 50 Black or 34 Coloured seniors were invited.
School administrators have tried to distance Brackenfell High from the event, saying it was not school-sponsored and didn’t take place on school property, according to the Daily Voice. Protesters weren’t satisfied, pointing out that at least two teachers attended.
Black and Coloured students told the Daily Voice that separate WhatsApp messaging groups were created to plan the party, which was notable given that schoolwide WhatsApp groups already existed.
“You want to tell me out of all these Coloured and Black matriculants, the white children did not have a single person they are friends with or get along with to invite to the event?” one student told the paper.
About 2,000 people attended Friday’s protest, which was organized by the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters party, the Daily Maverick reported. The EFF has organized other anti-racism demonstrations throughout South Africa.
A Nov. 9 march at Brackenfell High led to brawls between Black EFF-backed protesters and white defenders of the school, who some outlets identified as parents, according to Al-Jazeera. Video of the confrontations spread on social media.
Police said they broke out the crowd control weapons Friday because the protest was too big and refused to stay away from the school, the AP reported. EFF organizers said the demonstration was peaceful until police fired on them.
Apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, but racism did not.
