Wynberg Girls' High School says its school governing body and its hostel superintendent at Waterloo House have both agreed to end her employment due to the “operational requirements of the hostel and the school”.
This comes as an independent probe into allegations of discrimination, sexual and verbal abuse against the superintendent cleared her of the charges.
The report by Advocate Diane Davis found there had been a breakdown of discipline in the hostel, and that the re-establishment of good discipline and order at Waterloo House “needs to be addressed as a priority”.
It has recommended that the school appoints a Xhosa-speaking hostel superintendent.
The probe came after some pupils at the school demanded the house superintendent be removed as they claimed she had destroyed their self-esteem by calling them names, was racist and told them inappropriate stories.
The report found pupils at Waterloo House had a “legitimate cause for complaint”, regarding inconsistent treatment and the lack of a uniform set of rules and disciplinary code.
The school's headmistress Shirley Harding said the situation lent itself to unfortunate “misperceptions” which, while unfounded, were the cause of understandable unhappiness.
In a statement late last year, the pupils alleged the superintendent called them “bloody k*****s” .
The pupils said the superintendent, whose name the Cape Times is withholding, “had destroyed our self-esteem”, and that no one seemed to take their concerns seriously.
The girls said they were living in “constant fear” of what the superintendent would do next.
Yesterday, Harding said that, after interviewing a wide cross-section of pupils and hostel staff, Davis had submitted a written report to the school governing body containing her findings and recommendations.
“The chief finding in the report is that the hostel superintendent has not broken the law. More particularly, she has not committed sexual assault or harassment, emotional abuse, theft, hate speech, racial discrimination or unlawful breaches of confidentiality or privacy, all of which she stood accused of by certain learners," Harding said.
“Recommendations made in the report include: the appointment of a Xhosa-speaking hostel superintendent; the preparation of a revised disciplinary code which sets out clear rules; bringing in professionals to work with the hostel learners and hostel staff in an effort to promote better understanding in the hostel for the benefit of all its learners.”
Education MEC Debbie Schafer said: “It is clear from both investigations that this case is a classic example of the kind of hysteria that can be whipped up by people who are irresponsible and have no regard to the reputational damage they can cause to others.
"In total, there were 19 allegations against the superintendent. Probably the two most serious allegations were that the superintendent had referred to black learners using a racist term in an incident at the beginning of last year and that she had touched learners inappropriately."