This is according to Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane.
Mabaso was arrested in June 2011,on suspicion of fraud, after allegedly defrauding the Gauteng Education Department of millions of Rand through subsidies received by his two schools.
One of Mabaso’s schools is Ekukhanyeni Primary School in Ramaphosa. The other is located in Denver.
His schools received millions of Rand in subsidies from the government, but only a small part of the money seemed to have benefited the schools.
Following due process with the owner of the schools, both schools were eventually de-registered and closed down, leaving hundreds of pupils stranded.
However, the school was later reopened when a new board of directors applied for the registration of the school under the name Ramaphosa Combined School, in 2012.
It has, since 2014, been operating as a private school, with a provisional registration.
At the moment, the Department of Education has plans to convert Ramaphosa Combined School into public ordinary school.
Last year, critics claimed that the school wasn’t fully functional, due to a lack of funding.
They said the school has unacceptable levels of absence by both teachers and children, insufficient learning material, a high rate of dropouts, under-qualified and underperforming teachers, children roaming the streets during school hours and some not even showing up for school.
The school has, however, categorically denied allegations that it is dysfunctional.
Following all these allegations, the Advertiser paid an unannounced and uninvited visit to the school to carry out an inspection, last year.
In most of the classrooms, teachers were found busy at their work (teaching). No child from the school was found outside the classrooms or seen on the streets nearby the school.
Principal of the school, Mapule Gwangwa, denied the allegations against her school, and said they were ‘false, baseless and disgraceful’.
Sekhonyane said since the Department of Education intends to convert the school into a public school, permission has been granted to the NPA to forfeit the school and hand it over to the department for this purpose.
The Advertiser understands that the school currently receives no funding from the department. – @FanieFLK
Principal rebuts allegations against school
