Alex’s best performing KwaBhekilanga Secondary School has been rocked by a scandal a week before this year’s final matric examination.
The indiscretion exposed in the Citizen of 12 October by the provincial MEC Panyaza Lesufi involves a ‘cash for jobs’ scheme. As a result, Lesufi said letters of intended suspension were to be served on a teacher, principal, two general assistants and two Joburg East District officials.
The teacher involved is said to have been arrested and appeared in the Joburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court for alleged bribery of an investigating officer. Sources said he was granted bail. According to Lesufi, the school and district officials allegedly facilitated the employment of the two assistants and asked that they deposit some money into the teacher’s account. “Information at our disposal revealed that interviews were held in June this year but the assistants received salaries backdated to April with each receiving over R13 000.”
Lesufi condemned the incident as a crime which sought to undermine the dignity of the department and said the department’s action should be a deterrent to others. Sources who confirmed the incident said the teacher was granted bail by the court.
The scheme is a long-standing Achilles heel for the department with the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga saying a report points to the involvement of the teachers’ union SADTU in the scheme, a charge they deny. This in addition to protests by unemployed graduates in Kwazulu-Natal demanding intervention by the premier over similar corruption involving the hiring of teachers.
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