Curro Protea Glen school boss Shanette Tiquin is in hot water after a complainant whom she had called a monkey opened a criminal case against her.
Nonkululeko Gwatyu, an English teacher at the school, opened a case of racism against Tiquin at the Protea police station on Monday night.
This emanates from the not-so-pleasant word that Tiquin used to refer to Gwatyu in June, when she allegedly called her a monkey.
The drama reached boiling point with e-mails being exchanged between Tiquin, Gwatyu, the Curro group head of HR Beverley Bennette, and the company’s head of operations Fergus Sampson.
The e-mails sought to defuse the tension.
Sunday World exclusively reported at the weekend on the scandal that had rocked the privately owned high-end school where Tiquin, a white executive in her 50s had allegedly called Gwatyu, 29, that she was a monkey and she needed to be treated as such.
The drama was heightened when the EFF in Soweto staged a protest outside school premises, resulting in a contingent of police and heavily armed security to be deployed in the vicinity to keep law and order on Monday.
It is understood that the teachers who were supposed to be in class to teach pupils also became security personnel, as they were told that they needed to keep an eye on protestors.
Insiders at the police station revealed that Gwatyu headed straight to the cop shop to open a criminal case against Tiquin, who is not yet suspended by the school.
“Nonkululeko opened a criminal case with the police. Her case is very strong and Shanette has a case to answer since there is evidence on e-mails that she even apologized to Nonkululeko for calling her a monkey,” said a police source.
Sunday World is in possession of the case number.
Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo said: “A case of crimen injuria has been opened at Protea Glen police station and an investigation is under way. The complainant alleged that one of the senior employees called her a monkey.”
On Friday, Curro’s public relations officer Nadia Rossouw confirmed that Gwatyu had filed a formal complaint against Tiquin.
“Curro Holdings is aware of an incident at Curro Academy Protea Glen that involves allegations by a teacher that she was spoken to in a derogatory and discriminatory manner by a senior member of staff during a recent incident at the school,” said Rossouw.
“The group has taken these allegations seriously and an investigation is under way.
“However, the details surrounding this case are complex and an external mediator has been appointed to assist with the mediation process.
“Given the fact that the mediation process is ongoing, the group will not be sharing any further details.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
