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The Minister of Education, Professor Sibusiso Bengu, yesterday strongly warned that government might not only enforce existing legislation, but also reinforce that legislation by closing whatever loopholes there are to counteract school governing bodies frustrating school integration in the country.

Professor Bengu, who was speaking at the South African Human Rights Commission workshop on Racism in Schools in Randburg on March 4 (Thursday), said school integration was non-negotiable.

In terms of the Constitution, the learners had an inalienable right that they be accommodated in the country's public schools.

The minister said this right goes beyond accommodation and extends to the learner's lives at the schools.

The responsibilities of the governing bodies therefore extend to ensuring that the school culture, in the holistic sense of the term, pays no attention to the physical differences of the learners.

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