Two Pretoria teachers, who were seemingly caught on camera beating children at Darwin’s Educational Playground Aftercare crèche in Pretoria Gardens, are being investigated.

This comes after recent videos surfaced that allegedly show two teachers, a mother and her daughter, manhandling and beating toddlers at the crèche.

The crèche is owned by sisters, Lizelle Guida Zimmermann and Lucinda Correia, who also teach at the school. Their mother, Anna Peyper Correia, is also involved as a teacher.

The videos were taken by a former teacher who reported that she could not bear to witness the behaviour, such as what has been captured on video, any longer.

According to Tiffany Mostert, she had tried to warn parents that their children were being beaten at the school. Her allegations were met with disbelief.

Mostert therefore felt that she needed proof and decided to film what happens at the school.

In an interview with Pretoria Rekord, she recalls speaking to one of the mothers.

“I told her that she needed to know that her child was being beaten,” she says.

She claimed that Zimmermann and her mother had done the beating.

“The mother did not take me seriously and jokingly asked where my proof was. That is when I decided to start filming the incidents.”

Mostert resigned earlier this year.

“Emotionally, this had taken a toll on me. I just couldn’t sleep anymore, knowing that nothing was being done to stop them.

“I grew up in an abusive house and felt that I did not do enough to help my siblings. These incidents triggered me, and I know that I can help these children by revealing these videos.”

In one harrowing video, a woman is seen spanking a child in the bathroom.

According to Mostert, the child was beaten after refusing to eat.

In another video, a woman who appears to be the senior Correia, is seen using force to get a blonde little girl to sit in a certain position on the floor.

In another video, a woman who appears to be Zimmermann, is seen spanking a boy in front of his classmates. The scared children are seen standing around, crying hysterically.

The newspaper spoke to the mothers of two children seen in the videos.

Both have since removed their children from the school and have opened child abuse cases at the Hercules police station in Pretoria.

“I was sick to my stomach when I saw the video of my little girl being treated like this. When I was informed of the video, we immediately removed both my children from the school.”

The mother says she confronted the sisters, Zimmermann and Correia, with the video footage.

“I showed it to them, but they did not respond. They just looked at me in shock.”

She says they will be taking their little girl for therapy as these incidents have traumatised her.

“If someone raises their voice around her, she immediately starts crying and she is struggling with nightmares.”

The mother says she wants justice for her little girl.

“I cannot believe that people like this are allowed to be around children.”

Police spokesperson Captain Augustinah Selepe, confirmed that two cases of assault have been opened and are being investigated.

She says one of the matters was withdrawn while the other will be taken to Senior Public Prosecution (SPP) for decision.

The newspaper contacted both Zimmerman and Correia for comment and asked for contact details for their mother, but was referred to their lawyer, Jaco Koster.

“We do not condone or allow the use of corporal punishment at our school,” Koster says.

“We endeavour to treat every child in our school as our own, and we are investigating the allegations.”

Koster says the school was started in 2020 with only six children and has now grown to 35 children in the crèche and 30 children in aftercare.

After some investigation the newspaper discovered that the school opened its doors in 2018 and not 2020, as stated by Koster.

When asked whether the school was registered, he says they have submitted all documents to register.

Koster says that Sandra Gomes of the South African Board of Day Care Centres was assisting the school in getting registered.

The newspaper contacted Gomes, who revealed that the application to register the school had not been submitted yet.

“We were informed by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to put a hold on all applications until further notice as all early childhood development (ECD) centres were being moved from the Department of Social Development to the DBE.”

Gomes also says she was only approached by the school in 2020 to start with the application process.

The newspaper asked Koster how many qualified teachers and assistants there were at the school.

“In terms of the legislation, you do not need to be a qualified teacher; however, I can confirm that all seven of our employees have a first aid qualification, three of our employees have a basic firefighting qualification, and three of our employees are currently studying for a degree in Education (B.Ed).”

Koster says while they cannot confirm that the videos were taken at Darwin’s, an internal investigation is underway.

“None of the videos clearly show the premises and/or personnel allegedly involved. We are, however, investigating the matter internally.”

Gauteng Education Department spokesperson Steve Mabona could not yet confirm if they are investigating the matter.