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Kempton Park principal allegedly sends girls home from school for 'inappropriate' hairstyles

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Last year it came to light that Pretoria High School for Girls actively forbid students from sporting African hairstyles like afros, bantu knots, dreadlocks and braids. South Africans refused to accept this blatant discouragement of blackness and the story went viral.

Following the hairgate of 2016 we assumed a more tolerant and inclusive school experience to follow for all boys and girls, particularly in terms of what is deemed an 'appropriate' appearance at school.

Read: High school student shamed for "inappropriate" attire on Civvies Day

Yet today a young woman by the name of Siyabonga Ngwenya posted a picture and status on Facebook regarding her niece and some of her school friends. The post claims that Mariette Van Heerden, headmistress at Windsor House Academy in in Kempton Park, kicked out a group of girls with 'inappropriate' hairstyles - specifically braids.

The Facebook post has since been shared several times and there is understandable anger.

Read: These are the 4 hairstyles students claim are banned at Pretoria High School for Girls

Here is the full post from Facebook:


'''I've been kicked out of school'

now when your niece calls your on the morning of the first day of school to let you know she's been kicked out of school... what do you do or say?
I rolled my eyes and thought: "it's the braids again" she's been at #WindsorHouseAcademy
in Kempton Park, Gauteng since the 8th grade and it's been a constant issue with the headmistress, Mariette Van Heerden - she's been policing the black girls hair at every chance and I guess today she felt she'd had enough and kicked the girls out with the warning: "no girl will come back with that hair"

I'm at a loss and although we've ranted about this, black girls' hair is still being policed in schools -
My niece said all the girls with braids, dreads and 'inappropriate' hair were summoned and were proceeded to be told off and at some point she went off on a rant calling them amongst other things: idiots, demotivated, failures and when one of the girls called her out asked her where they would feel inspired with a headmistress like her - she flipped and went on another rant. The girls were then made to write letters to their folks promising to adhere to school rules - she took those letters in and told them she won't be taking any calls from parents discuss the matter and sent them home...

*the girls in the photo are just some of the learners that were thrown out - there was a whole lot more...
I'm gonna show up to school tomorrow with my Afro out and see what happens - I'm sick of this mess

#DontTouchMyHair
"

The post claims that this has happened before and that the headmistress has expressed a dissatisfaction with some of the students hair in the past.

W24 has spoken to principal Mariette Van Heerden and asked her to comment on these allegations. She said she will soon respond to us via email.

W24 has contacted Siyabonga Ngwenya directly and she had the following to say: 

“I’m very angry with regards to the matter. When my niece called me around 10:45 to ask me if I’ve heard from her mom (my sister) that she’s been thrown out of school, immediately I was like ‘what the hell?’ Only to find out that they’ve been thrown out of school because of their hair. This has happened before to other learners. It’s not the first time that she (the principal) has had issues with regards to the girls’ hair. 

"My niece is now in grade 12 and she’s been there since grade 8 and there have been isolated incidents at least every month where my niece comes home to tell me that this one has been sent home with a letter, etc. I don’t know why there’s such an issue with braids, or dreads or afros. My niece tells me it’s been deemed as ‘unprofessional’. The principal has said that it’s ‘too much’, saying that some afros are too big or some dreads are too long and the girls are trying to look older. I don’t know what she’s insinuating. I don’t know what reason they would want to look older for."

We also spoke to Zinhle, Siyabonga's 18-year-old niece, about her experience at school:

"Today we were kicked out of school because of our hair. We were told it was ‘too much’, or ‘too long’ or not suitable for school. So the principal told us we should leave and go home and fix it. We can only come back to school if our hair is deemed appropriate by her.

"She told us that we cannot do anything about it necessarily because it’s a private school and according to the code of conduct that we’re supposed to look a certain way and we’re not supposed to have this type of hair.

"She’s said that our hair is ‘unruly’ and ‘too much’ and ‘unprofessional’ and has said that it wouldn’t be acceptable in a working environment. That when we go to work one day, our bosses will be upset with us for coming to work with braids or any other different hairstyle and it interrupts our work.

"I feel violated and angry because I’ve been at this school for four years, this is my fifth year, and it’s been happening most of the time. She interrupts my learning. I just don’t understand why she needs to do this. It has nothing to do with my education. She needs to make sure the school is working and avoid things like this because this does not matter. It’s just hair. "


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