Timeslive reports that former Westville Girls’ High School teacher Danielle de Bruyn‚ who resigned on Monday amid allegations that she used the k-word while teaching an English class‚ has broken her silence.  

She says it was in the context of a discussion over a book “and I never used it in reference to any learner”.  Her mistake‚ which she acknowledges‚ was to express a political view on land expropriation in the classroom.  “I used the word during a discussion on Harper Lee’s novel‚ To Kill a Mockingbird‚ and with reference to the N word.  I explained to the class that this was the equivalent in the American social context of the racial slurs adopted historically in South Africa.”  De Bruyn‚ who had been a teacher at the school for three years up to her resignation on Monday‚ said the discussion changed to the topic of South African farmers and land expropriation‚ and she expressed a personal view‚ which‚ with hindsight‚ she should not have in the classroom.  De Bruyn stated:  “Insofar as my view could have been construed as inappropriate or racially charged‚ given the inequalities of the past are rooted in racial discrimination‚ I apologised to the school and to the learners.”  She resigned “because I felt that I had made a mistake with how I conducted myself in the class.  It was the best option for the school‚ the learners and myself.”  She also noted there had been some inaccuracies in some media reports.  “I did not use the ‘k-word’ in reference to any individual or group nor have I been accused of doing so.” Principal Catherine Raw on Tuesday outlined the scope of the school’s probe into the matter‚ which was initiated last week.

• Read this report by Tania Broughton in full at Timeslive

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