GLENVISTA High School’s Governing Body (SGB) addressed reports of maladministration and corruption levied against former staff after the Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi released a damning report on August 10.
Glenvista High SGB member, Prince Maluleke, spoke to the CHRONICLE to address the GDE findings.
“This isn’t the first audit. We’ve already put in place control systems to ensure that we receive permission. Where there were accounts open without permission, we’ve applied for permission and they’ve been granted by the department. That was long before the report was released,” explained Maluleke.
“The issues raised in the report have been dealt with and it’s not really as reported in electronic media. We needed to get permission from the GDE before opening accounts.”
According to the forensic audit conducted by KPMG, there was a trend of under-budgeting of income and over-budgeting of expenditure which influenced the amount of school fees per learner. This presents an opportunity for a potential buffer for transactions. The audit also revealed further misappropriation of school funds and indicated that the accounting records were not properly maintained by the school. “The school hasn’t increased fees in the past in the past two years as our expenses were less than the income. We have problems with the findings because it means we had a surplus income,” said Maluleke.
In respect to recruitment irregularities, Maluleke explained the findings refer to individuals who had already left the school and also noted that they were currently following due recruitment processes.
MEC Lesufi stated that heads would roll for the millions of Rands lost through the alleged maladministration.
The forensic report also showed evidence of financial mismanagement including the SGB receiving financial benefits and potential conflicts of interest; S38A payments made without approvals; procurement irregularities including lease agreements; payments made for expenses not in the ordinary course of school activities; a principal received payments for classes that they had allegedly not conducted; scholarships and exemptions were authorised or granted without obtaining the relevant approvals; fixed assets not accounted for in the accounting records; repayment of a staff loan was not accounted for in the accounting records and purchases of cellphones and tablets for the HOD’s without obtaining approvals.
