The Star reports that an outsourced cleaner claims a teacher at Curro Castle Oakdene in Johannesburg called her and a colleague “three little monkeys” while they were having lunch in the staff room on 2 July.  

The other person sitting with the cleaners was an assistant teacher employed by the school.  She has declined to comment.  The cleaners have since been fired from their jobs at Afriboom – a company that supplies cleaning services for hospitality, retail and healthcare clients – which provided cleaning services at Curro Castle Oakdene.  One of the cleaners indicated:  “We were having lunch when the teacher said ‘three little monkeys sitting on a table’.  When we asked what she meant, she said she was singing the children’s rhyme.  When we questioned her, she immediately tried to turn it into a joke.”  The cleaners reported the matter to the principal and the teacher was off school for a week, but she was not dismissed.  She was found not guilty and returned to school.  The cleaners were fired by their firm last week.  “They told us Curro found the teacher not guilty and we should treat her with respect.  They also said that in the future, if something like this happens we should inform the company first,” the one cleaner said.  A criminal case has been opened.  This is the latest in a string of racism allegations levelled against the private school group.

• Read the full original of the above report by Tebogo Monama at The Star

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