An Exciting Update From The Pretoria Natural Hair Protest

It didn’t take long for the hair protest at Pretoria Girls High to make international headlines. And surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the school system to proactively respond.  

Panyaza Lesufi, the Education Minister for Guateng, the province in which the South African school resides, is calling for an independent investigation into the school’s racist appearance rules, reports BBC World News.

Prior to the community’s peaceful disruption, students reported administrators banning natural hairstyles and the use of native languages on school grounds. 

WANT MORE FROM ESSENCE? Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.
“There will be no learner that will be victimized purely because of their hairstyle until the School Governing Body have finalized a new code of conduct that deals specifically with this issue,” said Lesufi to Eye Witness News. 
He also denounced the “mocking of African learners’ usage of their mother tongue,” and instead encouraged the diverse use of languages in the classroom. 
Behold, the power of peaceful protest and of course—black girl magic.