A prestigious independent girls school in Johannesburg has apologised to a Jewish school after failing to turn up to a planned tennis match after some parents raised “concerns” about the fixture.
It emerged this week that Roedean South Africa – the sister school to the British boarding school in Brighton of the same name – “stood up” pupils at the Jewish King David Linkfield school earlier this month, despite the headteacher apparently assuring her counterpart the team would show up.
A letter sent by King David to parents and staff earlier this week stated that the principal, Lorraine Srage, received a phone call from her counterpart at Roedean, Phuti Mogale, one day before the match to explain that a “group of parents” had raised concerns about the fixture, and that they “did not want the match to proceed on the basis that they would be playing a Jewish school”.
During the call, Mogale reassured Srage that the match would still go ahead but an hour later King David received an email from the head of sport at Roedean explaining that the decision had been made to forfeit the match due to “other academic commitments”, according to the letter.
Yet in Srage’s earlier phone call with Mogale, “there was no mention made of any ‘prior school commitments’ nor of any ‘academic workshops’ that would conflict with the fixture the following day,” the letter read.
Later that day, according to the letter, Mogale called Srage again, this time to inform her that issue had been “resolved” and that the match would go ahead after all. It was, the letter stated, on that basis that the King David pupils turned up to play the match the following day – “only to be stood up” after all.
Following the furore, King David has shared another letter sent yesterday by Roedean's chairman, Dale Quaker, apologising for the cancellation.
"Roedean recognises that it is our obligation to ensure that religious and any other form of discrimination do not come into school sport,” the letter states.
"We acknowledge that our actions which led to the cancellation of the match with King David were deeply hurtful to the Jewish community and sincerely apologise.
"We recognise the impact this situation has had on both our communities and are committed to reflecting on the internal circumstances that led to this outcome," it adds.
A letter sent to Rodean staff and parents earlier this week by the school’s leaders said the school “strongly refutes the allegations of antisemitism arising from the cancellation” of the match. It also appears to suggest that poor communication between the schools was to blame for the incident.
However, in Quaker’s most recent letter, he wrote: “Roedean acknowledges that while there were communication challenges which compounded this incident, these were not the cause of the cancellation of the match as Roedean originally understood and communicated, as has become clear from our ongoing independent investigations.”
He added: "Roedean values the opportunity to engage constructively and learn from this experience and will continue to work with King David School.
Reiterating the school’s previously stated position, he said: "Roedean unequivocally rejects antisemitism and all forms of discrimination or prejudice. Such attitudes have no place in our school or our values. This incident does not reflect Roedean’s ethos or intentions."
King David did not make any additional comment beyond sharing the letter it received. Roedean was contacted for comment.
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