After thorough research and gathering evidence, the FF Plus lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) about the traumatic diversity session at Fish Hoek High School.
The complaint was lodged on behalf of concerned parents who reached out to the FF Plus after the training session.
The complaint was made against the Western Cape Education Department, the MEC for Education, Mr David Maynier, and the group of individuals who presented the session.
The party argued that there is sufficient evidence to show that the incident dramatically infringed upon learners' constitutional rights.
Firstly, learners' right to freedom and security was violated seeing as they were held in the school hall against their will and without the lawful supervision of teachers, who were told to wait outside.
No learner was allowed to leave the hall and no teacher was allowed to enter it in defiance of the authority that teachers have to care for learners in the absence of their parents or guardians. Learners were also prohibited from recording the session.
This unlawful isolation of learners set the scene for their rights to be further undermined. A secretive and psychologically predatory environment was created where learners were without protection.
Under these circumstances, the presenters stated that white people are the only ones who can be racists, while black people cannot seeing as they have no power.
This statement forms the basis of critical race theory and is inherently unconstitutional, it jars with the equality principle stipulated in Section 9 of South Africa's Constitution.
One of the white learners responded to the statement by asking how black-on-white farm murders should be understood if that is the case; he was told to keep quiet in a derogatory way, which is a violation of Section 16 of the Constitution that protects freedom of expression.
Suppressing healthy debating is just one more red flag indicating that learners were purposefully set up to be vulnerable subjects of propaganda in the form of critical race theory.
Lastly, one presenter made statements about Christianity that may, at best, be seen as unwarranted, and at worst, as blasphemous. Without explaining its context, the presenter quoted a poem which could be construed as, among other things, equating Christianity with white patriarchal dominance.
The Trinity is painted, at best, as a strange kind of love triangle, and the possibility that the Holy Spirit might be "queer" is hinted at.
This uncalled-for attack on Christianity in front of minor learners is unjustifiable, and a material violation of the right to freedom of religion, in terms of Section 15 of the Constitution, of people who practice Christianity as prescribed by the Bible.
The presenter's statements caused pandemonium and elicited responses of shock from the learners. In the sound recordings, it is evident that the presenter did not care about the learners' vehement emotional reaction – in fact, it almost seems like being provocative was the objective.
No teacher was present to intercede for learners seeing as the plan of isolating them had been so effectively implemented.
In conclusion, this psychological attack on learners constitutes a material violation of their right to integrity in terms of Section 10 of the Constitution in addition to a violation of children's rights in terms of Section 28 of the Constitution.
Section 28 guarantees the right to protection against maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation, and prescribes that it is of paramount importance to always act in the best interest of a child. That certainly was not the case with this session.
Moreover, there are aggravating circumstances counting against the Western Cape Education Department.
A non-profit organisation, Free Speech Union of South Africa (FSUSA), warned the MEC twice in writing about the detrimental content contained in the Western Cape's diversity sessions.
FSUSA particularly emphasised the damage caused by these diversity sessions to social cohesion and the violation of the right to freedom of speech.
FSUSA's first letter elicited no response, so a second letter was sent to the MEC. Someone in his office indicated that he will respond, but apparently, that never happened.
The FF Plus is requesting the HRC to investigate the matter as well as the material that is presented, and to rule on its constitutionality.
It is imperative that the HRC condemns, in general, the warped ideas postulated by the ideology of critical race theory, and specifically determine a course of action to repair the psychological damage Fish Hoek High School learners suffered.
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