Eff Western Cape – Press statement from Wynberg girls High learners at Waterloo House
#Hearus #Broken #Thehelpless #Wynberggirls
We the learners at Waterloo House, would like someone out there to hear us, we have been violated, broken repeatedly and we now feel helpless.
Our demands:
- We demand the immediate removal of the hostel Superintendent, Ms Stephanie Faris!
- We demand the immediate release of the Transformation Report, immediately!
- We demand Ms Harding to be investigated for lack of action regarding Ms Faris
- We demand assurances that we will not be victimized because of this statement. Ms Faris doesn’t know how to raise children, she has destroyed our self-esteem, and no-one seems to take our concerns seriously.
Now we are coming to you, the outside world. We are writing exams, which we will not jeopardize, we are therefore issuing this statement together with personal accounts of the daily violations we are experiencing at her hands. There are many soul-destroying incidents we have been exposed to: Ms Faris usually tells us inappropriate stories: She claims she has had more than 5 abortions, she claims that she used to be a drug addict, she claims she worships the devil, she claims she worked for Gaddafi – We want to be left to be children, we are not trained counsellors, these stories are traumatizing!
She called us “Bloody Kaffirs” and has used Kaffir when discussing us. She claims that we use it on each other and therefore we should not be offended, we do not use this word AT ALL! – We demand a public apology and criminal investigation of Ms Faris, the era of Apartheid rule is over and we are Born-Free!
She said we, black learners, will make the hostel unhygienic, because there are so many of us (black learners) staying in, we wanted to stay in during the weekend to study for exams – We are not dirty!
She lies about girls to other staff members, she creates stories that are untrue, in order to further her own agenda, to paint certain girls negatively and then try to get rid of them. She told staff members that ALL learners from Masiphumelele have STIs, this is not true. – We demand that these vicious lies stop!
She discusses our home/private matters with other staff and learners; we speak to her in confidence only to hear our personal issues discussed as gossip in the duty room or kitchen, sometimes she even announces our issues at supper to the whole hostel. – We are being violated!
Ms Faris constantly tells us she will take our scholarships away based on our behavior in hostel – We cannot perform academically because we are demoralized!
We are racially discriminated when it comes disciplinary issues, – We demand a clear hostel code of conduct, applied fairly, we are all children, love us equally!
Ms Faris told white learners that they are in danger from black learners. We have never wanted to harm white learners and do not have any plans to harm them. – We demand that Ms Faris to stop her divisive tactics.
She kisses and touches us inappropriately, even when we ask her to stop – We want our NO to mean NO!
Ms Faris vetoes our parent’s permissions. She implies that black parents do not have good parenting skills. She doesn’t have children of her own, but she feels she knows better. – We want our parents to be respected, they have brought us this far they know what is good for us.
Ms Faris thinks we are ‘sex-crazed’; she slut shames us, she offers condoms to learners without them asking for them. She suggested that a learner wanted to go to the astro to engage in public sex. – We deserve to be respected!
We are not animals!
