Bloemfontein – The SA Human Rights Commission has recommended that a Bloemfontein teacher be registered as a person not suitable to work with children after he was found guilty of racism and hate speech.

Wilgehof Primary School’s Lenard Mac Kay was suspended in July following a complaint by a parent.

Craig Thiem said his children had repeatedly complained to him about a white teacher with a racist attitude towards black pupils.

In the complaint it was stated that Mac Kay displayed a full sized old South Africa flag in front of his classroom since May 2012, and had a poster in the class that depicted black people as having monkey-like noses and primate brains who could only make confusing noise.

The commission found that Mac Kay’s actions were a clear violation of both the right to equality and the right to human dignity of the pupils.

It also found that his administering of corporal punishment was clear violation of the South African Schools Act.

The SAHRC recommended that the Free State provincial department of education assess the prevalence of racism in public schools in the province and report back to the commission within 12 months.

– News24