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TWO scandals in as many weeks have left students at one of the Eastern Cape’s top private schools reeling. A week after boys at St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown “were asked to leave” for drinking, the school again found itself embroiled in controversy when an assault charge was laid with police against a senior teacher.

The charge, the result of a punch thrown on the sidelines of a rugby match, was later withdrawn.

Headmaster David Wylde yesterday confirmed that five boys had left the school after seven were caught drinking two weeks ago. The other two – first offenders – were suspended.

He declined to name the five but the Daily Dispatch later established that one is the son of a leading ANC businessman and the other a Xhosa prince. “It is not in their interests to name them; they are all minors … they have been placed in reputable schools and given a second chance to succeed in their lives,” he said.

A source close to the school described the ousted boys as “the top drawer of the new black elite”.

The leading businessman’s father refused to “discuss family affairs with a newspaper”. Last year, his older son, a prefect, was suspended from St Andrew’s for vandalising a teacher’s car, weeks before he was due to write matric exams.

The prince’s royal household was more forthcoming, saying they had dealt with the challenge “quite adequately” and that “necessary corrective measures” had been taken that would “contribute positively in building a future leader”.

They described the incident as “human error”. “We are in the process of ensuring that the necessary requirements are explored so as to ensure the desired goal (to educate the young prince) is achieved. It is sometimes common knowledge that incidents of this nature do occur, especially in a peer environment.”

The headmaster also confirmed action was taken by the school after the rugby fracas. A “suspension has been made and a disciplinary process begun,” he said, after a 16-year-old Graeme College First XV rugby player was allegedly punched by a St Andrew’s teacher during a heated grudge match between the two schools.

He refused to name the teacher but several of the hundreds of spectators told how they saw Mickey Patterson punch Graeme player Jade Bowles after he knocked the teacher down while trying to stop a try. They thought it was an accident.

Patterson was watching from behind the tryline when it happened. Other players and spectators had to intervene.

The derby match, played annually since 1878 and billed as the longest running school rugby rivalry in South Africa, was being filmed for Supersport’s FNB Classic Clashes.

Bowles’ father Lennert yesterday said he dropped the charges after meeting with Wylde and Patterson. He had never intended to sue Patterson or take the matter to court.

“I do not expect him to lose his job, but he is an experienced teacher who is 52 years old … you do not expect this kind of behaviour from a person like him. He maybe needs to attend anger management courses.”

He had decided to lay assault charges two days after the incident because the teacher had not apologised. “What he (Patterson) did was unacceptable. I expected him to rock up on Sunday at my house and apologise to me … When this did not happen, I went to the police … then they got a fright and contacted me.”

Bowles did not witness the assault but dismissed claims his son had maliciously “gunned” for Patterson.

“He weighs 110kg and was committed to the tackle. There was no way he could stop. My son said ‘sorry sir’ when he knocked him over … that is when he got (punched) . Many reputable people saw what happened and contacted me to say they were prepared to give statements.”

A veteran local referee claimed the incident was sparked by a “cynical late and high tackle by the Graeme player – who then also felled Patterson shoulder first”. “He was standing watching on the dead ball line … Patterson ended up at the bottom of a pile of players and if he did react in any way it was understandable. The schoolboy concerned should have been the first to offer an apology – even if the collision was unintentional.”

Gordon Greaves, whose company filmed the segment for FNB Classic Clashes, yesterday said the fracas would not be flighted as it was “against the ethos of school sport”.

A Grahamstown police spokesperson said although the assault docket was withdrawn by Bowles it had been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions who will consider the matter, including the school’s indication that they would take departmental steps. — Additional reporting by Lulamile Feni