By Noelene Barbeau
Mother and daughter Octavia and Sthembile Jingela, who hired two men to assault and rob teachers at Gillitts Primary School, have been found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Two teachers and a clerk at the school were attacked and robbed in front of a class of 22 terrified pupils on November 16, 2006.
The two men responsible for the attack, Bongumusa Ntombela and Siyabonga Ntuli, who were both 17 at the time, pleaded guilty in September last year and testified in April at the Pinetown regional court in the Jingelas' trial.
They said Octavia, who worked as a cleaner at the school, had promised to pay them R10 000 for the assault and said the principal, Bhanprakash Vasdev, would provide the money.
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They said they had waited with Octavia's daughter, Sthembile, at a nearby shop until Octavia told them exactly where teachers Sharon Govender and Shanti Naidoo and the clerk, Amra Reddy, were.
Sthembile, an ex-pupil at the school, provided them with knives. The men went into the classroom, assaulted the teachers and stole their possessions.
The mother and daughter were this week convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances and conspiracy to commit robbery. Octavia remains in custody, while Sthembile is on bail.
The matter has been adjourned until July when the magistrate will review reports from correctional and social services before sentencing the two women.
In his judgment, Magistrate Prithi Bodha described how Octavia once had had a good relationship with the two teachers and clerk.
He said Govender, Naidoo and Reddy complained in writing to the department of education about certain irregularities at the school.
At a school meeting in 2006, a department superintendent distributed copies of these allegations, including those levelled against Octavia and Vasdev, to all teachers at the school, as well as Octavia. This was apparently confidential information and thus jeopardised the teachers' and clerk's safety, said Bodha.
Govender, Naidoo and Reddy did not return to school after the attack in 2006. They are still on leave and are apparently still undergoing counselling.
Although elated at the judgment, all three women declined to comment.
Education spokeswoman Mbali Thusi said the department welcomed the outcome of the trial. Thusi said they were unable to contact the principal and would comment next week about investigations into irregularities at the school
noelene.barbeau@inl.co.za
- This article was originally published on page 8 of Tribune on May 11, 2008
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