South Africa:US talk show host and media magnate Oprah Winfrey said yesterday she was "cleaning house" at her exclusive all-girl academy in South Africa after a dormitory matron was charged with abusing students.
Describing the charges - including soliciting under-age girls to perform indecent acts - as one of the most devastating experiences in her life, Winfrey said she had not renewed the headmistress's contract and was taking other tough measures.
"We are removing the dorm parents, and as I have said to the girls, [ we are] cleaning house from top to bottom," she said in a video news conference from Chicago.
"It has shaken me to my core," said Winfrey, who has herself told of suffering sexual abuse as a child, and offered advice to other victims.
Former dormitory matron Virginia Mokgobo (27) was arrested on Thursday on charges including assault, indecent assault and soliciting under-age girls to perform indecent acts.
She was freed on 3,000 rand (€314) bail on Monday after a brief court appearance and left the Sebokeng magistrate court, south of Johannesburg, with a blanket over her head. The court postponed the case to December 13th to allow for more investigations.
Supt Andre Neethling, head of the police's child protection unit in Gauteng province, told reporters after the video conference that Ms Mokgobo was charged with 13 counts of assault.
Winfrey's $40 million academy has been dogged by controversy since it opened in January with a launch attended by singers Mariah Carey and Tina Turner, actor Sidney Poitier and film-maker Spike Lee.
In March, some parents complained the school was too strict and its restrictions on visits, phone calls and e-mail contact were comparable to rules in prisons. Then in May, some parents complained their children were not allowed junk food and, when they visited the school, they had to go through a security gate.