Victoria
Content
47 Raglan Road
Grahamstown
6139
Dear All,
Kindly receive my warm humble greetings on my noble behalf and convey it to the rest of the school.
Informed by the wide knowledge that I have acquired in the past ten years – I thought let me take time
out and write to you all.
Firstly it is important for me to thank you Victoria Girls’ High School for all the lessons learnt and the
attempt of shaping me to the woman that I did not become. Victoria Girls’ High School is one of the
oldest and prestigious schools in South Africa its national recognition was advanced through the
works of Miss Bertha Mingay in 1892. The school was recognised in 1896 and in 1897 a foundation
stone was laid by the British Empire in celebrating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee hence the name Victoria
Girls’ High School was given.
I am however perturbed that the school is named after a queen who in her era continued with what her
fore fathers had best taught her to colonise Africa. With a specific reference to the Egazini Battle in
1819 where black communities were slaughtered and forcibly removed from their land, turned
into tenants and landless labourers by the British army. Conversely it is troubling and
insulting to the young black to know that the school is in association with such legacies at the
same time I would like to make a point that this is not hate it is the truth I do not have the
power or the resources to produce such hate. We are not here to deal with a theoretical
postulation but providing a historical context.
Over the years I have come to realise that white supremacy at Victoria Girls’ High School is
placed under guise of ‘excellence’ and the ‘proudly V.G’ slogan. The notion that schools that
lie beyond the Matyana River are of excellence and if we black people associate ourselves
with them we are bound to excel. It is appalling to know that such indoctrination is constantly
fed to black girls at the same time having few ‘token black girls’ who secured spaces in the
academic top ten, sport and cultural excellence is a demining practice that done by the school.
This is possibly the worst constructed racism that any young black can endure which makes
the school a very dangerous space for the young black girls’ mind as it does not give any
opportunity to think.
The degree of separated spaces which was deliberate geographical construction of the
apartheid government is very alarming as we would come school in the early hours of the
morning from our ghetto homes where the ghetto spaces vigorously consumed our mental
state creating an almost impossible cognitive ability to become woke. In our homes we were
reminded by the way our mothers would slouch on the couch barring the pains of bank loan
just because of the excellence that lied beyond the Matyana River.
This liberal constructed space did not serve the interest of the young black girl instead it
continuously reinforced by ‘token black girl’ idea that paved way to the whips and chains of
corporate South Africa. This is even evident through the current curriculum and extra mural
activities it was even more punishing when your average mark never even reached 40 % and
you did not even wonder why you never achieve a petty 80 % or sometimes being told by the
Head of Academics that you could never qualify to do mathematics.
With the influx of black girls in recent years gave the impression of transformed spaces
arguably radical change is needed if the school wants to improve on the condition of the
black girl. This could be done by providing conscious spaces for black girl to teach
themselves about the Fanion and Bikoist black blueprint and the Sobukwean nationalism as I
believe that young black girls need to be taught black consciousness and Pan Africanism in
order for them draw inspiration .
On the hand I am not here to speak about transformation because to transform is to adopt
system that does not accommodate black people. V.G perpetuated the misery of colonialism
and it is an institution that maintained the status quo. Such institutions need to be reinvented
and decolonised and create a space where black lives matter. The sophisticated ‘bubble’ and
‘organic enclave’ that is created at this school is an injustice to these young black girls the
key point here is to create an environment that is not based on the charity of whiteness in
order to restore the dignity of the child.
Yours in revolution,
Zinzisa Sixaba
Grahamstown
6139
Dear All,
Kindly receive my warm humble greetings on my noble behalf and convey it to the rest of the school.
Informed by the wide knowledge that I have acquired in the past ten years – I thought let me take time
out and write to you all.
Firstly it is important for me to thank you Victoria Girls’ High School for all the lessons learnt and the
attempt of shaping me to the woman that I did not become. Victoria Girls’ High School is one of the
oldest and prestigious schools in South Africa its national recognition was advanced through the
works of Miss Bertha Mingay in 1892. The school was recognised in 1896 and in 1897 a foundation
stone was laid by the British Empire in celebrating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee hence the name Victoria
Girls’ High School was given.
I am however perturbed that the school is named after a queen who in her era continued with what her
fore fathers had best taught her to colonise Africa. With a specific reference to the Egazini Battle in
1819 where black communities were slaughtered and forcibly removed from their land, turned
into tenants and landless labourers by the British army. Conversely it is troubling and
insulting to the young black to know that the school is in association with such legacies at the
same time I would like to make a point that this is not hate it is the truth I do not have the
power or the resources to produce such hate. We are not here to deal with a theoretical
postulation but providing a historical context.
Over the years I have come to realise that white supremacy at Victoria Girls’ High School is
placed under guise of ‘excellence’ and the ‘proudly V.G’ slogan. The notion that schools that
lie beyond the Matyana River are of excellence and if we black people associate ourselves
with them we are bound to excel. It is appalling to know that such indoctrination is constantly
fed to black girls at the same time having few ‘token black girls’ who secured spaces in the
academic top ten, sport and cultural excellence is a demining practice that done by the school.
This is possibly the worst constructed racism that any young black can endure which makes
the school a very dangerous space for the young black girls’ mind as it does not give any
opportunity to think.
The degree of separated spaces which was deliberate geographical construction of the
apartheid government is very alarming as we would come school in the early hours of the
morning from our ghetto homes where the ghetto spaces vigorously consumed our mental
state creating an almost impossible cognitive ability to become woke. In our homes we were
reminded by the way our mothers would slouch on the couch barring the pains of bank loan
just because of the excellence that lied beyond the Matyana River.
This liberal constructed space did not serve the interest of the young black girl instead it
continuously reinforced by ‘token black girl’ idea that paved way to the whips and chains of
corporate South Africa. This is even evident through the current curriculum and extra mural
activities it was even more punishing when your average mark never even reached 40 % and
you did not even wonder why you never achieve a petty 80 % or sometimes being told by the
Head of Academics that you could never qualify to do mathematics.
With the influx of black girls in recent years gave the impression of transformed spaces
arguably radical change is needed if the school wants to improve on the condition of the
black girl. This could be done by providing conscious spaces for black girl to teach
themselves about the Fanion and Bikoist black blueprint and the Sobukwean nationalism as I
believe that young black girls need to be taught black consciousness and Pan Africanism in
order for them draw inspiration .
On the hand I am not here to speak about transformation because to transform is to adopt
system that does not accommodate black people. V.G perpetuated the misery of colonialism
and it is an institution that maintained the status quo. Such institutions need to be reinvented
and decolonised and create a space where black lives matter. The sophisticated ‘bubble’ and
‘organic enclave’ that is created at this school is an injustice to these young black girls the
key point here is to create an environment that is not based on the charity of whiteness in
order to restore the dignity of the child.
Yours in revolution,
Zinzisa Sixaba
