OUR RICH HISTORY – 15-YEAR-OLD DURBAN HIGH SCHOOL GIRL IN 1981 MAKES HEADLINES FOR STANDING UP AGAINST APARTHEID EDUCATION AUTHORITIES

  

(Miss Charmaine Naidoo, who was 15 in 1981, would be 55 or 56 now. It would be great to know about her progress over the years and what she is now doing?)

   

SCHOOL GIRL “EXPELS” RACISM

In May 1981 the apartheid regime had escalated its brutal and repressive measures to counter the campaigns of struggle leaders and progressive organisations such as the Natal Indian Congress. It was not only imposing banning and restrictive measures against anti-apartheid political, trade union, sporting leaders but was also brutally suppressing high school pupils and university students who were continuing their protests against unequal and inferior education systems.

Leading the campaigns at one of the high schools in Durban was 15-year-old Charmaine Naidoo. Despite being only in standard eight she organised a boycott of the Republic Day celebrations on May 31 imposed by the Pretoria regime. All schools controlled by the “Indian” education department like other “racial” departments were forced to participate in programmes to celebrate the apartheid Republic Day.

The Director of Indian Education, Mr Gabriel Krog, immediately took action and suspended Miss Naidoo and 600 other pupils for their boycott actions.

After some negotiations, Mr Krog allowed 246 children to return to their schools. But Miss Naidoo and more than 300 other children were barred from attending any government school to be “taught a lesson”.

The Natal Indian Congress entered the scene and took up the case of Miss Naidoo and her fellow pupils and made representations to the courts.

The case dragged on four nearly four months during which time Miss Naidoo and her colleagues were denied entry to their class rooms by Mr Krog.

Even after the court issued an order in October 1981 for Miss Naidoo and her expelled colleagues to be allowed back to their classrooms, Mr Krog refused to lift the expulsions. Miss Naidoo’s father, Mr Krishna Naidoo, was forced to seek further intervention by the court.

The Press Trust of SA News Agency wrote an article in October 1981 about the courage of Mis Naidoo and submitted it for publication in India via the Press Trust of India.

The article was published in several publications, including the Tribune, Statesman and the Times of India, under the headlines: “Schoolgirl ‘expels’ racism”, “Indian girl wins battle in Durban”, and “Indian Girl wins court case”.

 "INDIAN" GIRL WINS BATTLE IN DURBAN 

The story, published by the Tribune on October 6 1981, read:

 

Durban, Oct 6 (PTI): A 15-year-old Indian school girl has won a major battle when she fought her way back to the classroom after four months of expulsion ordered by the institution’s white director.

Mis Charmaine Naidoo, a standard V111 pupil of a local high school, was expelled along with 600 other Indian children after they had boycotted classes in protest against the 21^st Republic Day celebrations of the South African Government, according to the Press Trust of South Africa.

The arbitrary action against the children was taken by Mr Gabriel Krog, the Director of the Indian Education Department.

Mr Krog, who is a nominee of the secret Afrikaner organisation, Broederbond, subsequently allowed 246 children to return to their classes but barred Miss Naidoo and others from attending any Government school.

This action incensed the Indian community here and its leaders mobilised the black people against Mr Krog and the Indian Education Department.

"INDIAN" GIRL WINS COURT CASE

Numerous representations and petitions failed to persuade Mr Krog to change his stand. The Indian community, under the leadership of the Natal Indian Congress, which was founded by Mahatma Gandhi during his stay in South Africa in the 1890s, finally took the matter to court.

The presiding judge of the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court, Mr Justice Friedman, set aside Miss Naidoo’s expulsion after stating that Mr Krog had not followed the legal requirements when he expelled the children.

But Mr Krog defied the legal directive and refused to allow Miss Naidoo to return to her class. When she was barred for the second time, her father, Mr Krishna Naidoo, instructed his attorneys to institute “contempt of court” proceedings and action for damages against Mr Krog.

After much wrangling between Mr Krog and the Indian community, the director finally agreed to re-admit all expelled children at the start of the new term next year.

He also agreed to allow the standard eight and matriculation pupils to appear in their year-end examinations for 1981.

The acting President of the Natal Indian Congress, Mr M J Naidoo, said in a statement to the Press Trust of South Africa that it seemed the South African Government took the action against Indian children because “they don’t want us to align ourselves with the aspirations of the African majority”. Ends – Press Trust of South Africa Oct 6 1981

 

FOOTNOTE:

Miss Naidoo, who was 15 in 1981, would be 55 or 56 now. It would be great to know about her progress over the years and what she is now doing?