Oprah's South Africa School Plagued By Second Sex Scandal

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa has suspended seven girls for sexual misconduct and the harassment of other pupils. The suspensions, first reported by the Afrikaans on Sunday newspaper, are the second sex controversy to plague the school, which opened with much fanfare in early 2007. According to the Telegraph:

According to the Afrikaans on Sunday newspaper, one 15-year-old "preyed" on a schoolmate and coerced others into lying to officials investigating the alleged incidents. Six other pupils have been excluded from the $46 million (£32 million) girls-only boarding school after being alleged to have touched each other intimately, or "intimidating others into partaking of inappropriate behaviours".

A letter sent to one of the suspended girls' parents is said to have read: "You have been found guilty of physical contact of a sexual nature with another pupil on campus, harassment, bullying other girls on campus and of being dishonest by not telling investigators the whole truth".

A prior scandal came just ten months after the Academy's January 2007 opening when dorm matron Virginia Tiny Makgobo was arrested for "indecent assault and soliciting under-age girls to perform indecent acts". From AFP (November 2007):

An emotional Oprah Winfrey said she was "shaken to the core" by sexual abuse claims at her elite girls' school in South Africa.

"This has been one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating experience of my life," the US talk show host told journalists in Johannesburg via a live satellite link from Chicago.

"When I heard the news I spent about a half-hour crying ... I couldn't wrap my mind around it."

[WATCH: Oprah's response to the first scandal]

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Comments

[blueskybigstar]

Kids do stuff. If they weren't all sleeping in the same place, then this would be less likely to happen and would have not been able to been related to Oprah in any way.

[Gabblog]

Two so called sex scandals in a couple of years makes news when the big O is attached but absolutely nothing over the lesbian bullying that goes on and has been going on for years in the US military services..­.Navy and Army in particular­...

[Balzac]

"I couldn't wrap my mind around it." - That's what she said!

[Savojah]

C'mon, this is a croc of crap. They're freaking kids! Give it a break.

[cocolola]

Why is this a scandal? Come on already. Stop souping up this story.

[Just Margaret]

What makes this news? That Oprah bankrolled the school?

I'm fairly confident that you could do an expose on *any* school, public or private, and find this sort of shenanegins going on amongst students.

[cocolola]

Perhaps the girls did not completely comprehend the weight of this rule. I'm sure that they do now.

[Balzac]

It's time to convene a summit of concerned angstivists.

[captainindustry]

AAAARRRRHG­GGGGHHHHHH­!!! This is the terribleist thing that could happen in the universe. I'm not sure I can go on....

(will that get me invited to the summit? as a delegate?)

[fulanita]

Can we please stop scrutinizing every single aspect of the school. It seems like people are waiting for some terrible thing to happen. It appears that s h i t happens, and they take care of it. Next.

[mr lol]

I have yet to hear one positive thing about this school since it opened.

[toocoldout]

That's because the media only reports the negative because they want the school to fail. The truth is kids fool around at every school, but when it happens at Oprah's school it's an international sex scandal. My heart goes out to Oprah. It's hard enough trying to run a school of hundreds of girls from dysfunctional homes, but to be harassed by the media every time something bad happens is too much.

[Strywever]

Seen a lot of reporting on other specific African schools in U. S. media, have you? Of course you haven't.

This is only "newsworthy" because it's sufficiently sensational for America's tabloid media culture and Oprah owns the school. It has nothing to do with the school's merits - only the media's bottom line.

And may I just add . . . duh.

[oregonbird]

Newsflash: Guess what girls get up to when they attend a boarding school? Gasp. No, really? Yes, really. Wander into a few of the boarding schools in Idaho, or Connecticut, and you'll find -- girls who are hormonal and denied battery-powered toothbrushes. How shocking that they fool around like normal people -- they're just kids! What a bunch of head-in-the-sand hypocrites. The girls in "Oprah's" school are raised in one-room homes with lots of younger children..­. most of them enter the school having witnessed a great deal of sexual activity, at the very least, and have already engaged in sex, if not been seriously molested and raped, at the worst. So, rather than having a psychiatrist and classes to address what are obviously entrenched social problems -- the girls who demonstrate their problems are thrown out and denied education. Way to address the matter, Oprah -- now, tell the kids they have to speak English, eat french fries and dress in Tommy Hilfinger.­.. oh, and they have to sign a document stating that they are not a product of their own world, and will comply to all Western ideas of childhood, regardless of reality.

[toocoldout]

The girls were suspended not expelled. You can't blame the school for having a few basic rules.

[JBCinSD]

Oprah's school is a beautiful place of learning (I've been there) and one of the most important lessons girls in South Africa have to learn is that unwanted sexual touching is not OK and that, if someone does it, you must tell authorities about it - with the truth. Taking swift and perhaps harsh action in this case makes those lessons clear.

[simplelivingmama]

I like that she's nippin' it quickly. It would be hard to manage something that is so far away. I wonder if it wouldn't suit her to make her next project closer to home. I live near her in a neighboring town. I work with our affordable housing and there is plenty of opportunity to do big things here. Good on her though.

[Pleneras]

There are scandals everywhere, from churches across the nation and globe, schools, work, homes, etc.... The act is the crime not the institution. What's wrong with you people?

[dcoxucla]

girl running down the hall, girl cheating, girl smoking cigarettes, this is normal for students to act out and it might have some cultural signification but this is what students do...in America students bring guys, teachers sleep with student, rape on campus but dont put this on someone who is trying to do good. whether you like oprah or not for what ever his reason good or bad in opening this school the fact of have a well funded institution in those parts is a undeniable good thing. Stories like this will have people who want to open a school change their mind because they dont want to be vilified every time students screws up

[bellemeade]

Is this a school, or a training ground for lesbian bullies? Someone is NOT on their toes here.

[toocoldout]

Oh take a flying leap. The school is doing their best in a bad situation. You can't stop hormonal teenagers from wanting sex when they're hundreds of them living under the same roof, in a culture where sexuality and sexual abuse is the norm.

[Strywever]

I don't think it was as much about the intimidation of other students as it was about the inappropriately sexualized behavior. Oprah is sending a very strong message to the remaining students that THEY MATTER. Good for her.

It's probably a very difficult thing for them to trust, and she'll only know she's making headway when the students report problems like this (which occur at most boarding schools to one degree or another, no matter where they're located) before they ever gain any real momentum.

[Strywever]

Oops -- should have re-read that first sentence before posting (if it ever actually gets posted). Meant it's JUST AS MUCH about the intimidating behavior as it is about the sexual behavior.

[2garen]

bellemeade you are very judgemental to say the least. What have you done today to make this world a better place? Have you volunteered your time, money, resources to make an impact and make this world a better place than what you found? Oprah does that every day. Take your hateful remarks and reap what you have sewn..

[ailbhe]

I commend Oprah for ensuring the safety of all the girls at her school by making sure that bullying behaviour is grounds for immediate expulsion. If all schools had similar policies in place, every child would be free to learn in a safe environment.

I don't like the headline of this article as it makes it sound as though she is responsible for the problems and covering them up, the story proves the opposite to be true.

[toocoldout]

I don't like the headline either. It's hard enough to trying to help girls from dysfunctional homes without the media sensationalizing every little thing that goes wrong for a cheap headline.