City of Joburg council speaker Colleen Makhubele has slammed the country’s justice system for granting bail to Andries Hendrik Booysen, the 51-year-old man accused of assaulting the 13-year-old Crowthorne Christian Academy learner last Monday.
Makhubele, who visited the family of the 13-year-old learner, also revealed that last Monday's racial incident, which went viral after it was posted by the learner’s older sister, was not the first such incident to have occurred at the embattled school.
“I was informed that this was the third such incident and it was through the video that was posted by the learner’s older sister, the incident went viral, which is why it has become such an important matter. If it was not for the bravery of this young woman, we would not have known about the latest incident," she said.
The racist attack on the learner and her mother brought controversy resulting in the school being shut down by the Gauteng Department of Education (DoE).
The scandal was triggered by the school’s anti-dreadlock policy, which many believe discriminated against black learners.
According to the police spokesperson, Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, Booysen was charged on Friday morning, and appeared briefly at the Midrand Magistrate’s Court on two charges of assault, before he was granted a R 2 000 bail.
Makhubele said the 51-year-old did not deserve to be granted bail as he had committed gender-based violence when he assaulted the child and her mother.
“He did not deserve to be released on bail as he (Booysen) committed GBV during Women's Month when he attacked a learner and her mother. The child was forced to protect her mother, who had recently undergone surgery following an injury in her leg,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the family, the 13-year-old’s aunt, Nobuhle Mdladla, said the family are still trying to recover from the incident, adding that they were now looking to enrol the learner at an online school following the closure of the school.
“The online issue is because the curriculum that she was doing at school is a different curriculum, and we are now left with four months,” she said.
The closure of the school has left parents and their children scrambling to find placements for their children as the academic calendar continues.
The Gauteng DoE said it was working hard to ensure the learners were placed at neighbouring schools after the department announced that it has closed down the school after it was found to be unregistered.
“The department can confirm that the Crowthorne Christian Academy is closed indefinitely, and the learners of the said school will be placed in neighbouring schools,” Gauteng DoE spokesperson Steve Mabona said.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the school told parents via a text message that it would shut its doors indefinitely.
Speaking to The Star, the mother of the learner said all she expected from the school was a simple apology.
“I can't say that Crowthorne is a bad school just because of this incident. It is still a good school, which is why I chose it in the first place. Finding another school will not be easy because of the quality of their curriculum. I expected the principal of the school to reach out to us and apologise, but she has not done so even today,” she said.