Oprah apologizes for alleged abuse at school
‘I’ve disappointed you , I’m so sorry,’ Winfrey tells parents of children

LOS ANGELES - Oprah Winfrey begged for forgiveness with tears in her eyes as she spoke to parents of students at her all-girls school in South Africa on Sunday.

The talk show queen addressed the parents during the emergency meeting, which was called after allegations of abuse surfaced at the school, which opened in January.

“I’ve disappointed you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Oprah told the families in Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg, the South African news site News24.com reported.

Oprah had visited the school twice in the past few weeks, after allegations that one of the employees fondled a female student and that other students had been physically abused.

News24.com reported that Oprah, who has spoken publicly about suffering abuse as a child, gave the students her personal phone number, her e-mail address and her mailing address so they could contact her at any time.

Prior to the alleged fondling incident, Oprah had placed the school’s principal, Dr. Mzimane, and at least one other employee on leave two weeks ago.

“I trusted her. When I appointed her, I thought she was passionate about the children of Africa,” an emotional Oprah said last week of Mzimane. “But I’ve been disappointed.”


According to local news reports, the father of one of the girls told Oprah the parents aren’t blaming her for the problems.

“It’s not your fault. We don’t blame you,” the father reportedly told her. “You trusted them. You have more passion for the school and its existence than anyone else in this country, including us parents.”

Oprah opened the doors to The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in January to provide a high level of education to underprivileged girls.




http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21530564/

Already opened a thread about this...

http://www.naijarules.com/vb/news-cu...ey-school.html

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"This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time....
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Heard about this one too....O ga o....Oprah shouldnt feel so "quickly" to sob to the parents...I understand she feels responsible since its her school and its obvious she has passion for the institution, but even if she were on campus, what took place could still have taken place! I hope the girl has received some counselling, and pray she'll be okay. Even when we were in school there was child abuse, but many of it was never reported since if you reported such, a.) no one believed you, or b.) would say you yourself asked for it or c.) people just didnt talk about such things then! Am glad things like these are coming out to the limelight!

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RIP Pastor Ify Irukwu ....

I'm looking forward to experiencing some Unspeakable Joy!

My Baby Oprah!!

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what is wrong with South Africans. they kill, rape, molest, I mean are these people not tired of all this nonsense

will the woman be in america and also have her eyes watching the student 24 hours . she has done well by providing jobs for this people and an enabling environment for the girls .......yet the people she trusted are the same people that have failed her .......... I pray she expels all the people aware and involved in this act .

While i was in high school a senior at night also tried fondling me. Our bunk was so close I was at sleep and that woke me up. I reported her and she was scolded she later apologized to me

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SOMETIMES IT IS HARD TO SEE THE PLACE,GOD HAS CALLED YOU AS A PLACE OF BLESSING, BUT THATS WHEN YOU'VE GOT TO HOLD ON AND TRUST THE PROCESS
PEOPLE TEND TO DRAW OTHERS BACK FROM THINGS THEY SECRETLY WOULD HAVE LOVED TO DO BUT ARE NOT CAPABLE OR DARING ENOUGH TO DO
THEY WILL ALWAYS TALK BUT YOUR CHOICE IN WHO YOU LISTEN TO IS WHAT MATTERS......