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Corrupt principals get off lightly - report

They pay themselves additional salaries and embezzle thousands of rands with little repercussions. These are some of accusations against principals of local high schools.

A report released by Corruption Watch on Thursday‚ revealed these and other acts of corruption as well as maladministration in 10 high schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

The whistle-blowing organisation reported that principals are fingered as culprits in at least 54% of complaints it receives on high school corruption.

The three most common types of corruption across all provinces are financial mismanagement‚ theft of goods and money‚ as well as manipulation of tenders‚ it said.

“In a number of cases‚ principals implicated in corruption and maladministration have merely been moved to other schools where they continue their corrupt practices‚” the report says.

At Senaoane Secondary School in Soweto‚ its principal Lebo Mashuga was found guilty of corruption by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and was transferred to another school pending the outcome of his appeal.

According to the report Mashuga was found to have signed off more than R377 004‚ long after the school had closed for the year‚ on 15 and 23 December last year.

At Brakpan High School‚ in Gauteng’s East Rand‚ a GDE investigation found that principal Lucky Nkopane had paid himself and other employees additional salaries without proper authorisation.

After Nkopane appealed‚ he got off with a slap on the wrist and will return as an employee of the school‚ according the report.

According to Corruption Watch’s legal head Leanne Govindsamy many principals take advantage of appeal processes‚ which keeps them in their positions and salaries.

She also said that education departments were reluctant to lay criminal charges against perpetrators because the cost of prosecution outstrips the amounts stolen. She added that the department turned to courts only in cases where there was a good chance of recovering stolen money.

But Albert Chanee‚ a deputy director-general in the GDE‚ said the transfer of principals who were undergoing disciplinary or appeal processes to other schools was a strategy used by the department to avoid wasteful expenditure.

“At least this way they are productive in some way‚ as opposed to being suspended which is wasteful expenditure‚” he said.

The report encourages parents‚ teachers and learners to hold school governing bodies and principals accountable.

But it appears that whistle-blowers often lose more than the corrupt individuals in some cases.

In 2013 a man‚ who Corruption Watch says it cannot name‚ was removed from Glenvista High School’s governing body after requesting access to the school’s financial records.

The governing body tabled a motion of no confidence against the man‚ saying he created “an unfriendly and chaotic environment”.

Two years later a KPMG audit of the school’s books revealed that some governing body members were providing services to the school‚ and the former principal accepted payments for levies on his holiday home. Money donated to the school landed in the pockets of staff.

 

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