BEST OF 2021 | Brakpan teacher wrongfully accused of assaulting boys wins case to clear her name: 'My name was dragged through the mud'

Like her mother and grandmother before her, she’d always dreamt of becoming a teacher. She wanted to stand in front of a class, help children discover their talent and instil a love of languages in young minds.

But then, after 20 years as a teacher, her dream turned into a nightmare when Carin Pinkham was accused of assaulting five Grade 4 boys in her class at the primary school Kommando in Brakpan, on Gauteng’s East Rand.

Following that fateful day when she was told to leave the premises and later dismissed, she’s spent the past two years trying to prove her innocence – and she recently succeeded.