Race slur teachers moved

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Police have sent a specialised unit to a high school in Cape Town after reports that pupils were practising satanic rituals. Photo: Matthews Baloyi

 Three KwaZulu-Natal teachers who allegedly racially insulted their Indian principal have been moved to other schools while the department searches for replacements, an official said on Monday.

KwaZulu-Natal education MEC Senzo Mchunu 's spokeswoman Muntu Lukhozi said reports that the principal of Khulabebuka High School, in Umbumbulu, had been asked to move were incorrect.

“The principal is not going away,” she said.

The alleged incident took place at the school, on the outskirts of Durban, in October.

The Mercury newspaper reported on Friday that the teachers allegedly taunted principal Premilla Deonath by singing Mbongeni Ngema's infamous “Amandiya” song in her presence.

The lyrics to the songs were ruled to be racially offensive by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in 2002.

On Monday, the newspaper reported that the SAHRC and the education department had recommended that Deonath should leave the school.

Lukhozi said this was not the case and that the department needed to find replacement teachers for those who had been moved.

Comment could not immediately be obtained from SAHRC spokesman Vincent Moaga. – Sapa