A Western Cape teacher has been summoned to a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday for claiming to be “African” in his CV, instead of sticking with his “official” coloured identity.
Glen Snyman, a teacher at Grootkraal Primary School in Oudtshoorn, allegedly self-identified as African when applying for a principal's job at another school in October 2017. He ultimately didn't get the job.
Almost three years later, late last month, he was summoned to a disciplinary hearing.
Snyman is an outspoken critic of race classification and founder of People Against Race Classification. He is particularly outspoken against the use of the term “coloured”, which he considers degrading.
Since 2010, Snyman has led a campaign against the government’s continued use of race categories — “black”, “coloured”, “Indian” and “White” — on official documentation, including job-application forms.
He also launched a petition which asked people to declare: “I don’t regard myself as a ‘Coloured’, ‘Black’, ‘Indian’, or ‘White’ person. I regard myself, first and foremost, as a South African.”
Snyman declined to comment this week, pointing out that his case was pending.
However, TimesLIVE is in possession of his Western Cape education department charge sheet, which reads: “You committed a common law offence, to wit fraud, by stating on your CV when applying for the principal post at Fezekile Secondary School that you are an African male, whereas in truth your records indicate that you are a coloured male and by doing so gain an advantage for purposes of being shortlisted.”
Provincial education department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the particulars of Snyman’s case were sub judice. However, she confirmed that the matter related to “providing fraudulent information on a CV”.
She said Snyman had no previous record of misconduct.
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