'Racist school hair rules' suspended at SA's Pretoria Girls High

Rules over how female students wear their hair at a South African high school have been suspended after anti-racism protests from black pupils, a local minister says.


Pupils at Pretoria Girls High say staff often tell them to straighten their hair and they are not allowed afros.

School rules would be suspended while an independent investigation takes place into the allegations, Gauteng province's education minister said.

The school has not commented.

Its code of conduct has a detailed list of rules about hair, but does not specifically mention the afro hairstyle.

Photos of the schoolgirls' protest went viral over the weekend and have sparked a national debate on race, with the hashtag #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh used more than 150,000 times on Twitter.