The South African schoolhouse that TV talk show maven Oprah Winfrey built is being shaken again by former headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane. After being dismissed by Winfrey back in 2007, when the sexual abuse scandal hit, the educator claims she has had difficulty finding another position.

Mzamane was fired when her famous boss made the decision to "clean house from top to bottom," after the news of sexual abuse at the elite boarding school, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, hit the news media worldwide. Winfrey had apparently lost all confidence in Mzamane, who she had hired to oversee the academic institution.

At a salary of $150k a year, Mzamane was supposed to hire nurses to act as dorm matrons. Instead, she hired eight young women from a party design company, all, according to Winfrey, "unqualified," and one of whom is Tiny Virginia Makopo, accused of physically and sexually abusing six students and is now facing 14 associated charges. Winfrey's team of legal eagles hope to prove that the school mistress neglected to act on a series of complaints about Makopo.

Mzamane, who was born in Lesotho, worked at a school in Germantown, Pa., when she filed the suit against Winfrey two years ago. The ex-headmistress' lawyers argue that Winfrey had already confessed about not having evidence "that Ms. Mzamane knew about any claims of sexual abuse at the academy while she was headmistress there, much less that she tolerated or covered up such abuse."

The pretrial was held last Friday. The actual jury trial begins on March 29th for two weeks in Philadelphia's federal court. The accusers, who are now 14 and 15 years of age, will quite possibly testify through videotaped depositions, according to one of Winfrey's lawyers, Chip Babcock. The South African government has arranged visas for other witnesses to attend the trial as well.

Winfrey, who has a daily show in Chicago and who is obligated to attend the trial each day, has made new taping arrangements in order to be present at the trial. The $2.7 billion net worth Winfrey has requested that the trial not drag over the expected two week period. U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno has agreed to hold court on Saturday, if necessary, in order to accommodate Winfrey's tight schedule.

The South African school, which once served 152 girls, now has 330 students in attendance.