The atmosphere around Brakenhall   high school in Cape Town was rather tense on Friday morning as masses of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) came out to the school in numbers protesting against alleged racism at the school after reports of a whites-only matric masquerade ball last month. 

The red barrets found themselves clashing with the community and the police had to intervene to disperse the crowd using grenades. The police argued that the were only supposed to bring 100 as permitted by the city of Cape Town however the party failed to keep to that.

According to Independent Online Chairperson of the school’s governing body   Guillaume Smith said while they would have preferred not to have postponed exams, they had done so in an effort to protect and safeguard pupils, who would not have been able to focus.

“The school is in no way malicious nor does it have an ill intent towards anyone. Our priority has always been the well-being of all our learners. While the situation we find ourselves in is an unfortunate emotional one, we are grateful that both our learners and staff have been handling it well.
“We are pleading with everyone to consider that no issue can ever be resolved by shouting profanities and being violent,” said Smith.

Despite calls for residents to refrain from attending the protest, The Cape Party has called on residents to show up in their numbers against the EFF today.