School rugby

School sport has seen another controversy come to light on Monday. Photo: Archives

Bishops pupils accused of ‘elitist’ behaviour during school rugby match

A rugby match between Bishops and Wynberg Boys’ High was marred by some pupils allegedly hurling coins at their opponents’ supporters.

School rugby

School sport has seen another controversy come to light on Monday. Photo: Archives

According to a report on News24, parents and pupils from Wynberg Boys’ High School have been left fuming after some pupils from Bishops Diocesan College allegedly took to throwing coins at their opponents’ supporters after losing a rugby game.

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The incident apparently took place during a rugby match at Bishops Diocesan College on Saturday, and was part of the Wynberg Boys’ High School Derby series.

One parent has said around 50 R2 coins rained down on the Wynberg pupils in what appeared to be a classist act of demonstrating who has more money.

“My son is a little too outspoken and told them to stop throwing daddy’s money around and was then delighted to pick up R6. Incidentally, my son is black, and honestly, it could be seen as racist as well,” she said. 

“I’m quite shocked. I think it’s outrageous that the school lets them get away with it. It smacks of elitism and a feeling of superiority that children that age shouldn’t be feeling.”

The yearly school fees at Bishops is said to be around R170 000, while the fees at Wynberg Boys’ are more than R50 000 annually.

There has been widespread reaction to the alleged incident after the schools rugby match

Another Wynberg pupil who attended the sporting event says Bishops has a certain reputation because they are a “very wealthy school”, while also alleging that Bishops pupils hurled insults at their opponents from Wynberg after the match was done. 

“I went to call the matriculants because you could see that they were going to start a fight. The students said we are a so-called ‘poor school’.

“Luckily the matrics managed to break up the fight before it escalated. Many parents of Wynberg were not happy, especially how they were being treated,” the pupil added.

The incident first came to light on social media after a parent posted the following message on a popular Facebook parenting community group.

“My son goes to a well-known diverse government boys high school in Cape Town. He recently attended a rugby match at a private boys school, where coins and money were thrown at them by learners from the hosting school because they consider our boys ‘poor’. This is something that has happened in previous years too.”

Lobby groups have described the incident as “disgraceful, unacceptable, and very upsetting”, while an internal investigation by Bishops is currently under way.

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