Jobs for Cash: Suspend implicated teachers and officials
26 May 2016
The DA calls for the suspension of all teachers and officials implicated in the ‘Jobs for Cash’ corruption scandal, pending the outcome of a criminal and disciplinary investigation.
Those implicated teachers and officials, many of whom belong to SADTU, should not be allowed to continue in their jobs while the police investigation is underway.
There are two very good reasons to suspend all teachers and officials implicated in the ‘Jobs for Cash’ scandal.
Firstly, it is unlikely that teachers and officials with clouds of suspicion hanging over their heads will be able to focus on the education of children.
Secondly, we need to minimise the chance that high-ranking teachers and officials will abuse their positions to interfere with the gathering of evidence against them.
The DA has gone through the ‘Jobs for Cash’ report and extracted the details of the teachers and officials found to be implicated in bribery, corruption and other irregularities. Code-names are used to protect the identities of the accused.
The details contained in the ‘Jobs for Cash’ report include:
- At a school in KwaZulu-Natal, “Ms. KZN-10”, a department official and SADTU Branch Secretary, attempted to solicit a R1 000 bribe from “Mr KZN-11” in return for an appointment letter. “Mr KZN-11” in fact paid a bribe of R500 to obtain the letter of appointment.
- At Seven Fountains Primary in KwaZulu-Natal, “Ms. KZN-17”, a SADTU Observer, offered to pay a School Governing Body (SGB) member R30 000 to ensure that “Ms. KZN-18”, a SADTU Branch Secretary, was shortlisted.
- “Dr KZN-21” of Rose Heights Primary in KwaZulu-Natal promised “Mr KZN-20” that the Principal position at Simla Primary was "in the bag", as he knew the Chairperson of the Interview Committee. “Mr KZN-20” was then appointed.
- At Cultura High School in Gauteng, the Principal, “Mr GAU-1”, was found to be guilty of nepotism and corruption as he used his position as Principal to appoint his son “Mr GAU-3” as a technology teacher. “Mr GAU-1” also incurred irregular expenditure of R 109 413.17 for unauthorized payments made to his wife, “Mrs Gau-4”.
- The report recommended that the Department of Basic Education liaise with the Police to investigate a “Mr. KZN-7”.
- “Mr. NW-6” was appointed to his post due to his SADTU affiliation, despite his lack of necessary qualifications and experience;
- “Mr. MPU-6” was appointed a position at Esselman Primary School in Mpumalanga, replacing his mother-in-law, even though more qualified applicants had applied. These applicants were not even shortlisted, at the direction of Mr. “MPU-7”.
- The report noted concerns around the appointment of the principal of Khureng Primary School and recommended further investigation amid allegations that principals were being promoted from low level positions despite not having the requisite experience.
- “Mr. EC-3” has been identified as the individual responsible for irregularities in the shortlisting and interviewing of candidates for the Principal at DD Siwisa Primary School in the Eastern Cape.
- “Mr. EC-4”, identified as a Chief Education Specialist of Uitenhage Education District in the Eastern Cape and SADTU executive member, was unable to prove his qualifications.
- “Mr. EC-25”, the Principal of Mkhululi Junior Secondary School, a SADTU Branch Exco chairperson in Cofimvaba, claims to have a teaching qualification despite the fact that his college closed before he could write his supplementary exams.
- “Mr. EC-37”, a SADTU member and the Principal of Mqanduli Village Junior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape was appointed despite not applying for the post.
The DA has today written to Minister Angie Motshekga to determine whether “Ms. KZN-10”, “Mr. KZN-11”, “Ms. KZN-17”, “Ms. KZN-18”, “Dr. KZN-21”, “Mr. KZN-20”, “Mr. GAU-1”, “Mr. GAU-3”, “Mrs. GAU-4”, “Mr. KZN-7”, “Mr. NW-6”, “Mr. MPU-6”, “Mr. MPU-7”, “Mr. EC-3”, “Mr. EC-4”, “Mr. EC-25”, “Mr. EC-37”, and all other implicated teachers and officials have been suspended. If they have not been suspended, we would like to know why not and whether they will be suspended.
The teachers and officials implicated in the ‘Jobs for Cash’ report are not just code-names contained in a forensic report. They are real people who continue to operate in our schools and education departments, despite the charges against them.
We call on Minister Motshekga to take immediate steps to have each of them suspended until the resolution of the criminal and disciplinary investigations. We need all teachers and officials in our school system fully focused on the education of children.
Issued by Gavin Davis, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 26 May 2016
