Zulaikha Patel’s fame has spread far beyond the nation’s borders. As her story highlights, the teenager stole our hearts with her bravery when she stood defiantly against her school’s hair policy, and it’s clear she made an impact across the world. Patel has been honoured in a list of the world’s most influential woman – global recognition of the respect her courage has drawn from fellow citizens.
Her peers protested at the school in August, accusing the institution of discriminating against them for having natural hair. Teachers had allegedly made comments about their hair, likening it to “birds’ nests”. They also expressed their anger at the fact that black learners were not allowed to speak African languages on the school premises, while their white counterparts were permitted to speak Afrikaans.
At the time of the protest, Zulaikha’s sister Amira told the Daily Mail that her sister had even faced detention because of her hair and had had enough. “Zulaikha is such a quiet, gentle girl and it has taken her two years to get to the stage of being targeted over her hair before she wanted to do something about it.
“She has studied the South African Constitution and she has studied the school’s dress code and she believes it is illegal for schools to have rules about how black girls’ hair must look,” Amira told the newspaper.
The school’s hair policy was later suspended by the Gauteng Department of Education, when it intervened in the matter
Source: Zulaikha Patel Named One Of World’s Most Influential Woman
