Less than a month after starting as an English teacher at a posh Johannesburg private school, David Benjesse says he was forced into resigning.
Benjesse has also accused the Lonehill International Academy of pouring bleach over clothes and locking his puppy in a car.
He said the school turned on him after he sent an e-mail to parents and teachers complaining about his pupils' poor English.In his statement of claim Benjesse said: "It quickly became apparent the school children had not been properly taught English in the preceding years. I repeatedly tested my classes and they received 40% or less for creative writing. I posted warnings of pupils' deficiency and ... that they be made to read novels to overcome this."
He said that after his e-mail, the school's director, Derick van der Schyf, invited him for coffee at a mall and told him that police were looking for him for "crimes" he had committed and that a warrant of arrest was active.
"[Van der Schyf] said the Hawks had a thick file on me. He told me to just resign and take two months' salary and get away from Johannesburg. In the fear and bewilderment of the moment, I numbly scrawled my resignation."
His belongings from his quarters at the school were packed up and returned but, unknown to him, his six-month-old puppy had been put in a school car and parked at the mall where he was meeting Van der Schyf, he said.
According to reports on the internet, Benjesse left Zimbabwe after the law society accused him of practising illegally. He said he fled because a domestic worker had warned him the Central Intelligence Organisation was going to kill him.
Benjesse said he had obtained a law degree in 2003 from the American College of Law, which has since closed down.
In an e-mail to the Sunday Times, Van der Schyf denied Benjesse's claims against the school. He said the school had become aware of serious allegations against Benjesse on social media.
"The school's directors immediately decided to suspend him with full benefits pending a disciplinary inquiry," he said...