Sans Souci teacher in 'slap video' to return to work

Clarissa Venter, the Afrikaans teacher who was captured on video when she slapped a Grade 9 pupil, will return to work in the second term, it emerged on Friday.

Venter, 34, had slapped the pupil after the child shoved her during an altercation over a book at Sans Souci Girls' High School in Cape Town.

They laid assault charges against each other and their criminal cases are running in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court.

Jessica Shelver, the spokesperson for Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the disciplinary process against Venter had concluded.

"The SGB (school governing body) has ratified its decision that the teacher receives a fine, final warning and anger management sessions," she said.

Withdrawal Shelver said they would not issue a statement as Venter was an SGB appointee - not a department employee.

Venter is expected to return to work on April 2.

Her criminal case was postponed to April 18 for further investigation.

At the start of the month, the mother of the pupil announced that she had decided to withdraw her child from the school.

The school wished her "well on her academic journey".

News24 reported that the Chamber of Legal Students – the pupil's representatives - said the decision was prompted by concerns for her well-being "in the face of the unfair and unlawful treatment she has been subjected to".

The pupil's mother previously said that, on the day of her daughter's disciplinary hearing, just before it started, the school principal advised her to move her daughter to another school.

News24