The importance of this petition cannot be understated and is paramount to the future of the educational landscape of South Africa. A prosperous future for our nation requires those at the greatest disadvantage to be provided with access to the best schools and the best opportunities to succeed. Former Model-C schools are, by and large, public institutions and as such should act in the public interest rather than the interests of the economic elite.

Over the last few weeks, we have heard of Black learners at different schools across Mzansi being subjected to having swimming caps put over their heads to determine whether their hair is "neat"; receiving demerits for speaking in their native languages and being told their natural hair is "untidy". This is a result of both the abuse of process in the form of code of conducts to discriminate and exclude, as well as the arbitrary implementation of these codes. This is happening despite the fact that the South African government has guidelines for the consideration of School Governing Bodies (SGBs) when developing code of conducts. You see the South African Schools Act states the "main focus of the Code of Conduct must be positive discipline; it must not be punitive and punishment oriented but facilitate constructive learning" and that it is done in consultation with "parents, learners, educators, and non-educators at that school" [1]. This is to ensure that process includes as many stakeholders as possible, including the learners who will be required to adhere to the code of conduct. Also to ensure that it is not used to discriminate and exclude, both through its content and arbitrary implementation, but rather contribute towards learning and development. Our education system, like many other South African systems, continues to suffer from colonial hangovers perpetuated by those who want to continue to use our schools as a means of maintaining the status quo. As learners from different parts of the country demand an end to this, lets stand in solidarity with them and make sure that our leaders know this is a key issue, and we won't stop until they ensure that the schools in their respective provinces adhere to these guidelines. [1] http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/18900.pdf

From 1960 to 1983, the apartheid government forcibly moved 3.5 million black South Africans in one of the largest mass removals of people in modern history. There were several political and economic reasons for these removals. First, during the 1950s and 1960s, large-scale removals of Africans, Indians, and Coloureds were carried out to implement the Group Areas Act, which mandated residential segregation throughout the country. More than 860,000 people were forced to move in order to divide and control racially-separate communities at a time of growing organized resistance to apartheid in urban areas; the removals also worked to the economic detriment of Indian shop owners. Sophiatown in Johannesburg (1955-63) and District Six in Cape Town (beginning in 1968) were among the vibrant multi-racial communities that were destroyed by government bulldozers when these areas were declared "white." District 6 land earmarked for restitution was 150 hectares, but developments on the land have reduced the land to 42 hectares. More is planned to be taken away. By having D6 declared a National Heritage Site stops further encroachment, meant for restitution. It does not stop an appropriate and comprehensive development that speaks to restitution and restoration. Shahied Ajam, director of the District Six Working Committee, says: “The social evils affecting our people today can be attributed to the apartheid legacy, where gangs and drugs are a direct result of people being dispossessed ... and having to defend their territory.”

Community safety is compromised here and we can't keeping seeing the same result in the Crime Stats report. People are increasingly unsafe and our constitutional rights are surely in jeopardy here with the state failing to provide adequate security. Imagine this: a community where people don't have enough space due to overpopulation and informal settlements, a clear breeding ground for many social ills with this ignored problem of ever-increasing crime stats. All of this happening in a City with an impeccable tourism track record and is considered the go-to place around the world. This irony can no longer be ignored. It's in these small actions, i.e. building a much-needed police station that we can start to turn the tide and provide support to the communities that desperately need it. Clearly those in power in this province aren't interested.

Black girls are not allowed to have afros,twists,dreadlocks etc. Only certain types of braids are allowed. Boys of colour with "nappy" hair are discriminated against. White children are often given a pass on hair regulations while children of colour are sent home until their hair is what the school constitutes as neat . Soccer is not allowed as it is predominantly played by people of colour.

Here are the facts as strong reasons from the most affected communities, black communities to demand the dump site to be closed down immediately: 1) The site is physically located within the close proximity of black communities (Ntshongweni, Dassenhoek, KwaNdengezi, Buxfarm and Cliffdale) while EnviroServ is legalized to take-in highly hazardous waste. 2) There is no Social Impact Analysis (SIA) component complimenting the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA), which should speak into the social and cultural effects of the landfill for Black communities 3) There has been, multiple times, breach of promise to deliver Air Quality Monitoring Systems in Black communities, which are by the way more proximate to the landfill. Instead, these systems have been placed in elite white communities “because they complaint more” in directly quoting EnviroServ’s reply to the question. This reactionary model of EnviroServ is rather appalling and resonates with the neo-liberal nature that favours the needs of the resourceful (elite). The poor in this scenario is totally neglected simply because they lack resources to perform EnviroServ’s job. 4) EnviroServ organized multiple meetings during the intensifying season of complaints since April 2016 in which none of them were convened in the most affected, Black communities but in the elite convenient centers such as Assagay Hotel. 5) The absence of robust community engagement strategy for an operation such as EnviroServ can only confirm that Black community sensitivity is absent within this multi-million corporation. 6) The minority Black that was part of the monitoring groups confirmed on a public meting that they have been raising these concerns and EnviroServ neglected them. We as the affected black communities demand the removal of this site with immediate effect as it does not reflect a human-centered development but top-down approach or even the sustainable development principle which failed to consider the future generation's needs in an effort to help the current meet their needs today. We are that future generation that was not forethought of when the site was approved by the Apartheid government in 1992.

Without the qualification one studies for many doors remain inaccessible to the students who cannot afford to settle account while they have academically qualified to graduate. If the purpose of our nations creation was meant to usher in an age where social caveats become meaningless & society is developed by empowering those who were previously left out of the development of their fatherland then surely denying access to someone whose single mother might have been able to pay their fees but falls short because of the death or insolvency of a parent or guardian; should that person continue to live in the shadow of poverty accepting any menial work while depriving the nation of an educated and industrious talent? Surely our nation can do better by a youth who offers so much promise for tomorrow; and surely a youth whose only solemn plea to its government and institutions of higher learning remains steadfast and sincere in the acquisition of education which is meant to benefit the entire society regardless of race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation or whatever artificial social constructs that stop us from looking at people as they are; people. The promises made to the parents of my generation are now long overdue; our youth need their society to raise them up because without our youth in a position towards social mobility the continued degeneration of our nation is a gurantee. Economic apartheid needs to be abolished so that no more African children have to feel outcasts in the land of their birth based only on the commas and numbers on their academic records instead of the fortitude of the discipline it took to achieve these qualifications amidst strenuous circumstances. We can no longer turn our backs on the vulnerable members of our society and expect them to fend for themselves and then wonder why crime, murder, drug abuse and the like continue to adversely affect SA's youth. The time for change is NOW!

The impregnation of school going girls steals from their future and perpetuate the cycle of poverty. More than 2000 underage girls have been impregnated in a municipality with a population of around 150 000

Black Scholars have been for a long time been excluded from and oppressed by the code of conduct. It is time for that to stop.

This is important as we believe that everyone should be accepted as who they are in their mosh natural form . No race or culture should be placed above the other , everyone should feel as if they belong equally .

We are a nation that is not at rest. Our society is dealing with the most, from the onset of the democratic dispensation, it was obvious that the advent of democracy would not miraculously transform the lives and lived experiences of our people, given the atrocious past that we come from. Realizing the inadequacy of government policies to transform and build a more equitable society, from the Reconstruction and Development Program, to this days’ National Development Plan, and the many attempts by the state to rebuild this country, the realities call for even more actions to achieve a country which we all can be proud of. It is in this context, with the call in 2015 by the brave students at the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Rhodes for wide and meaningful transformation in our universities to the heroic protest by the young girls of Pretoria Girls High School who claimed their right to wear their afrocentric hair. We believe that we have been subjected to conform to eurocentrism for many-many years, not only as pupils of the school, but by extension even in life outside of the school. We call for a more inclusive Code of Conduct, one which we can all be agreeable with. If society is to be truly inclusive and transformed, no one should be left without scrutiny.

Right now, learners at Pretoria High school are demanding that racist practices at the school are brought to an end. Girls attending the school have been forced to straighten their hair; are accused of conspiring when standing in groups and face other intolerable comments and actions. We stand in solidarity with the learners, who marched at the school on the 26th to say enough is enough. It is unacceptable that in a country in which Black people are a demographic majority, we still today continue to be expected to pander to whiteness and to have it enforced through school policy. Black children should be allowed to just be children, without being burdened with having to assert their humanity.