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	Calls for Joburg School to Be Closed after Claims of Sexual Abuse By Micel Schnehage Eyewitness News November 7, 2009 http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=25756 Concerned NGOs have called for the temporary closure of the Albert Street School in the Johannesburg city centre, following allegations of sexual abuse. Scores of minors from the nearby Central Methodist Church attend the school, where teachers have been accused of buying young girls gifts in exchange for sexual favours. One of the teachers was suspended after Eyewitness News exposed claims of abuse in September. It is understood he has since been reinstated. The allegations of abuse by teachers at the Albert Street School first surfaced about a year ago. The custodian of the Central Methodist Church Paul Verryn has defended them in the past, saying charges against the educators were dropped due to a lack of evidence. However, Luke Lamprecht of the Child Advocacy Group says this is not entirely true. "What has happened with the case is they have been provisionally withdrawn due to a lack of witnesses," he said. Lamprecht says the children who witnessed the abuse could not come forward at the time. "The witnesses are the very same children who were in the school at the time where the accused persons got placed back into positions of power," he said. Police are investigating the allegations.
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