Hair-raising rebel Zulaikha Patel honoured

Six years after Zulaikha Patel led a silent demonstration against the hair policy at Pretoria High School for Girls, the teenager is the youngest of six laureates invited to attend the 2022 Young Activists Summit.

The event will take place at the UN in Geneva and is intended to honour outstanding young people for their achievements, and for their success in showing how solidarity with marginalised groups is beneficial for all.

Patel, who is now a 19-year-old LLB student, made headlines in September 2016 when she was just 13.

Along with other pupils at the school, she protested against teachers who described their hair as “exotic” and instructed them to tame their afros. While the school's code of conduct made no specific mention of afros, it stated that girls’ hair “should be conservative, neat and in keeping with the school uniform”.

Patel and her friends were threatened with arrest at their silent protest, which was recorded. Footage of the standoff —  in which pupils can be heard yelling, “Take us all, they’re going to arrest us” — went viral.

The video shows Patel facing up to armed security guards hired by the school management to break up the demonstration, and caused a backlash against the school. This led to more protests and an eventual change in policies after then Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi intervened to hear the pupils’ grievances — not only about hair but racism in general at the school.

Patel told the Sunday Times this week that her selection as a young laureate was a huge honour and had come at a time when she was starting to feel a little flat about the activism she continues to be involved in.

“It’s hugely motivating to be shown that my work has been seen and is making a difference. I am going to get to represent South Africa on a global platform and speak on the advocacy issues close to my heart. It’s encouragement to keep on going,” she said.

Since leaving school she has written a book for girls called My Coily Crowny Hair.

It’s hugely motivating to be shown that my work has been seen and is making a difference

“I have read about some of the others [who will be honoured] and really admire their work — especially 24-year-old Pashtana Durrani from Afghanistan, who is being recognised for her work with helping young girls access education.

“I am really looking forward to meeting with them and picking their brains and hopefully bringing back some of their knowledge. I am looking forward to seeing Switzerland, to meeting with stakeholders who know how things should be done and meeting people involved in governance,” she said.

Her mother, Sarah Patel, and older sister Amira support and encourage her “as they are happy for me to achieve my dreams and break glass ceilings”.

For now her plans are to become an advocate and then do a master's in constitutional law and international law.

“I love the words of Africa’s first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She said, ‘If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.'”