Bad teacher

The battle lines are drawn when Carol sets up her teacher colleague Sthoko for almost guaranteed failure.

- LEZANNE JANSE VAN RENSBURG.

There’s a war brewing at Turfloop High. The opponents are English teacher Sthoko (Innocent Sadiki) and Life Orientation skills teacher Carol (Lebogang Chidi), and the flashpoint is a leaked exam paper that could see Sthoko losing her job for good. And that’s exactly what Carol wants. “She is, and for some reason, has always been jealous of Sthoko,” Innocent says about the fiery dynamic between the two Turf teachers. “Sthoko is a woman of peace and prefers to not be involved in confrontation, but Carol tends to push her buttons.” This time, Carol seems to be pushing harder than ever.

THE ULTIMATE TEST

The teachers and students were baying for blood recently when Sthoko’s matric English exam paper was leaked. “Everyone is under the impression that maybe one of the students might have gotten hold of the paper. Sthoko even thought that troublemaker student Clement (Vusi Leremi) took the paper and made it available to the students,” says Innocent. At first, Carol isn’t on Sthoko’s radar, but after a few breakroom whispers, Sthoko begins to suspect her enemy’s involvement. “It’s a feeling. It’s like Carol is enjoying Sthoko’s problem too much. Suspecting Carol is one thing, proving her guilt is a whole other matter, and Innocent says her character all but begs their boss Principal Thobakgale (Elizabeth Serunye) to intervene. “But without any proof, Sthoko’s case is paper-thin. At the end of the day, Sthoko is to blame. She was negligent and left the question papers unattended. For now, that’s all that matters,” says the actress.