This Day in History: 22 February 1996
A few days after the ruling by the Supreme Court to force Potgietersrus Primary School in Limpopo Province to allow Black pupils to enroll, sixteen Black children arrived at school protected by police officers to register. They were subjected to a barrage of racist verbal abuse by some members of the White community whose children attended the same school. The low attendance by White pupils affirmed their parents' stance. Only twenty out of almost 700 pupils came to school on that day. Many White parents threatened to establish their own school, rather have their children attend a multiracial school.