The management of a Walvis Bay school, Hillside Christian College, has distanced themselves from the racist comments made by a teacher who said that the Bible is not written for blacks.
Corien Steenkamp, a Grade 2 assistant teacher at the school posted on her social media saying that she wonders if there would be so much outrage if the person beaten to death at Otjiwarongo was white.
Steenkamp has since been suspended.
The post put up on 7 June was in reference to the two white men who allegedly beat a Zimbabwean vendor to death at Otjiwarongo.
Hlonisani Zhou was allegedly assaulted by Jonathan Patrick Myburgh (22), Jannie Jansen van Vuuren (23) and three others after he was caused of stealing a bottle of glue last week on Wednesday.
The other three are Roberto Katjinamunene (29), Kefas Kuutondokwa (26) and the 20-year-old Hendrik Simupureni. The five were denied bail when they appeared in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court.
Part of her message said ‘civilization is not made for blacks and the Bible is not written for blacks.
“Let that sink into your rotten smelly mouth, go back to the bush and eat your rotten food like your forefathers,” she said, adding “show me one invention from Africa. If whites didn’t arrive in Africa, you would still sit under a bush, looking at the moon and wonder if there is a way to get faster.”
In a message posted on social media, the school said they condemn utterances placing any race, colour, or people group (sic) at a higher or lower level or position and ‘want to distance ourselves from such hate speech’.
“We believe and teach that we are all created equal before God. We together with our legal advisers are currently dealing with the situation and the process will be fair just and professional,” the statement further said.
Furthermore, the statement said: “We hereby deeply regret the offence caused and wish to apologise for the harm it’s done in our community, nation and the world at large.”
