Alleged ‘corruption worth millions’ at school

JOHANNESBURG: The former school governing body (SGB) and principal of Glenvista High School, in Johannesburg, squandered millions of rands in school funds on airline tickets and payments for timeshares and a holiday home, a forensic investigation released by Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi revealed yesterday.

The governing body was in charge of affairs at the school between 2012 and mid-2014, said Lesufi.

He said this was the most corrupt school he had come across, adding that he had instructed the head of department to check whether this was part of a trend or not, “especially at the former Model C schools because this could be the tip of an iceberg”. He said they were targeting former Model C schools because of the amount of money involved. Model C schools are generally better funded than other public schools.

Lesufi said the amount “ran into millions”. The public school, established in 1988, had an annual budget of R24 million.

The investigation was launched after whistleblowers alerted authorities in 2013 to alleged corruption and financial mismanagement at the school. The department appointed forensic auditors KPMG to probe the allegations.

According to the report, the former governing body had opened more than one bank account without approval from the department, as per the SA Schools Act. “It was illegal to do so, the last time we checked there were eight different accounts,” said Lesufi.

Payments on behalf of the former principal were made using school funds. These included levies for his holiday home, installation of a car port and hunting fees. Timeshares donated to the school were not used for fundraising as intended. Instead they were auctioned to the staff at rates that did not cover the levies the school was paying for them.

Air travel tickets were bought for the principal’s personal use. The investigation found that the former chairperson of the governing body instructed the purchase of the air tickets without approval of the rest of the SGB. The expenditure was falsely stated as part of the school’s sports awards expenditure. The former principal also claimed money for lessons he did not provide. “They abused the law, which allows teachers to claim for providing extra lessons, to benefit themselves,” said Lesufi.

The appointment of teachers and coaches at the school was also riddled with irregularities. The report found that there was no recruitment policy in place. Teachers were appointed without checking their backgrounds and whether they qualified for the posts. The department had been in contact with the Hawks, he said. “We want those implicated to pay back the money.” – ANA