A fortnight after the body of Jayde Panayiotou was was found, a sense of normality has returned to Riebeek College in Uitenhage where the 28-year-old was a junior school teacher.
That's according to headmaster, Marilyn Woods, who spoke candidly to Algoa FM News today about how the all girls school is coping with the loss of the much-loved teacher and the subsequent news that Jayde's husband, Christopher is one of the suspects.
Woods said her job was to get the school back to normality, which included appointing an experienced former learner to fill Jayde's post.
""Look, we've actually divorced ourselves from that totally at the school. My function is to get the school back to normality. So, that is coping with the loss of Jayde, I've had a teacher come in who is in her post at the moment. She's an ex Riebeek girl and she's very experienced. You know children are resilient so they are responding to her very nicely."
"There's a very positive attitude at the school. There's always been a sadness obviously since this happened. We've gone through all the processes of being sad, of being angry, of being upset and grieving. You know, slowly step-by-step every day, you know I've had ministers in, I've had counsellors in, I've had to counsel my staff in particular who have been very badly affected by this, they've been traumatised really."
"So, I'm very proud of all the girls in the school and my staff because of the way they've kept their integrity and their working ethos. We've managed to sort of carrying on you know, but with paying respects. From the beginning the teachers kept the girls busy, they wrote prayers for Jayde, they did drawings and that was all therapeutic from the word go. So, we're going through all the different steps."
28-year-old Christopher Panayiotou, one of three suspects behind bars, faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
His legal counsel is expected to apply for bail ahead of his scheduled remand date of June 19th.
Two other suspects , 31 year-old Luthando Siyoli and 30 year-old Sizwe-zakhe Vumazonke have also appeared in court.
(Picture: From Riebeek College Facebook Page)
