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GDE delays justice for learners: Only 8 out of 29 cases of procurement irregularities and financial misconduct finalised

Gauteng learners continue to suffer without much-needed learning materials while the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is dragging its feet in finalising all the cases regarding procurement irregularities and financial misconduct.

Should these cases have been finalised on time the money would have been recouped and used to improve the quality of learning and teaching.

Only eight out of 29 cases of procurement irregularities and financial misconduct have been finalised.

This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, in a written reply to the DA’s questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

These investigations are based on the Auditor General (AG) report on the Annual Report for the 2021/22 financial year. Some students and officials have been implicated in fraud, mismanagement of funds, corruption in the procurement of tenders and appointment irregularities.

The demands that MEC Chiloane, must not waste time but open criminal cases against the officials and students implicated in the following schools:

• Richfield Graduate Institute was defrauded of over R65 000 by a student who submitted a fraudulent letter to receive a bursary,
• Mismanagement of over R400 000 at Theresa Park Primary School,
• Gauteng City Region Academy CEO allegedly removed functions of budgets from managers and centralised them in her office for her own personal gain,
• Irregular staff appointments at Mayfield Primary School, no receipts recorded of money received at the school that amounts to R14 690.50,
• Meredale Primary School mismanagement of R2 million,
• Misrepresentation at EP Bauman Primary School, where two staff members were paid salaries while no longer employed at the school,
• General Beyers staff member stole laptops and computers,
• Mismanagement of funds at Bokamoso Primary School.

The DA welcomes the disciplinary actions taken against some of the staff members at these schools. However, we demand that those found to be guilty of theft of school funds must be fired and pay back every cent stolen.

We will fight for justice for our learners as our schools cannot be administered by criminals.

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The DA calls for urgent intervention into Glenvista High school amid claims of assault, bullying and ill-discipline

The DA is calling on the Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi to urgently intervene and resolve a number of issues that are causing a continuous disruption of learning and teaching at Glenvista High School in Johannesburg.

Since the start of the 2022 school year, the school has been facing serious challenges of ill-discipline, fighting and bullying. Some learners have been undergoing disciplinary hearings for bullying the Grade 8 learners after forcing them to do push -ups. A video of this bullying incident went viral on social media.

In another incident, former learners were allowed onto the school premises where they assaulted a learner as well as two other learners and two teachers who tried to stop the assault. A case of assault and trespassing has been opened at Mondeor Police Station.

Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education, Khume Ramulifho MPL and the DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Education, Sergio Dos Santos MPL, conducted an oversight inspection at the school. They were shocked to witness several learners kicking, screaming hysterically and crying during a prayer session at the school following allegations of demon possession.

The parents of these learners were called to the school to fetch their children.

Furthermore, the School Governing Body (SGB) has been delaying the process of building four additional classrooms at the school to reduce overcrowding in the classrooms despite the funds for the new classrooms being transferred to the school account.

Parents of learners have expressed their concerns at to the continuous disruption of learning and teaching.

The DA believes that bullying and violence has no place at our schools which are meant to be safe places for all learners. We also call on the MEC to ensure that all these issues are addressed without delay to allow the learners to get the best possible education. We will continue to monitor the MEC’s intervention to ensure that schooling continues at Glenvista High School without any further disruptions.

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MEC Lesufi’s department must implement school infrastructure projects to ensure all learners have access to quality education

The DA is concerned that our learners in Gauteng are being failed by the ANC-led government. After conducting an oversight visit to assess school readiness today, the DA has observed that many learners have still not been placed.

The Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) has failed to build schools on time despite the fact that they are given a sufficient budget.

This is denying our learners an opportunity to learn and access quality education that will enable them to either study further or seek employment opportunities after completing school.

This trend of the DID not completing school infrastructure on time is extremely concerning and the DA will be writing to Premier Makhura to ask him to withdraw school infrastructure projects from the DID.

This will enable MEC Lesufi to take over the responsibility of building schools and placing learners. Many projects have been implemented by the DID which are have been on hold for more than 8 months. This includes amongst others Braamfischer Primary, Nancefield Primary, Mayibuye Primary and Ruste Vaal Secondary.

At all these schools, the DID has appointed incompetent contractors who either failed to build schools according to specifications; failed to pay sub-contractors and/or failed to meet deadlines.

The DA is calling on MEC Lesufi to take responsibility for his department by ensuring that all schools are ready on time at the start of the academic year. Learners have lost enough due to the rotational learning system that has been put in place due to Covid and they are continuing to fall behind as the provincial government is not playing its part to accommodate all learners.

Further to this, the Education Department must review the online admission system to ensure that it guarantees parental choice. The current system places children far from their home and place of work of their parents.

Learning and teaching cannot be disrupted anymore.

The DA demands that the MEC speedily finalizes the placements of learners, so that they aren’t denied access to basic education.

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2021 academic year school application deadline close today, parents must apply to secure their children’s placement

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is urging all parents and guardians to submit their child’s online application to secure their placement for the 2022 academic year before the end of today to ensure that they do not miss a day of schooling when the new academic year begins.

Today, Friday, 8th October is the deadline for the GDE phase 2 of the online admission application for Grade 1 and 8 for the 2022 academic year.

We urge parents not to miss this last opportunity but use it to apply and chose their preferred school for their children. Parents who are facing difficulties with their applications and those who do not have internet access should go to their nearest Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) regional office to seek assistance.

Failure to apply on time by parents in the past has had a huge negative impact on the future of the children, where many learners across the province have missed months of schooling due to late applications waiting to be allocated to a school. This has also resulted in learners being placed in schools that have not been chosen by their parents. In most cases, parents choose schools based on their home language, but the child ends up being placed in a school that does not offer their home language which affects their academic progress.

The DA will continue to monitor the processing of the online applications to ensure that all parents who applied on time receive SMS notifications about placement offers. Those who will not receive the SMS notifications should report the matter to their nearest GDE regional offices for clarifications. We will ensure that children who applied on time are prioritized, and we will not allow our children to suffer and be denied access to education because of the department’s incompetency.

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MEC Lesufi is delaying justice for children without much-needed resources by not making SIU preliminary report public

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is reiterating its demands for the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) MEC Panyaza Lesufi to make public the Special Investigative Unit’s (SIU) preliminary report on decontamination of Gauteng schools to ensure transparency and accountability in dealing with those implicated.

MEC Lesufi received the SIU’s preliminary report last month and to date, he has not yet responded to our demands to make it public.

The public has a right to know what happened to more than R431 million of taxpayers’ money which was wasted on decontamination of schools within three months. This money could have been used to improve the learning and teaching environment such as building more schools to reduce overcrowding, eradication of asbestos schools, and upgrading security features to safeguard school assets.

We need to be informed about all the recommendations that have been suggested by the SIU and the progress that the department has made so far in implementing them.

Furthermore, Magic Engineers is among 173 service providers that were appointed to decontaminate Gauteng schools. This company which has been doing work for the department since the 2014/15 financial year was paid over R18 million to decontaminate 65 schools. The decontamination rate per school was about R285 300,00 – a ridiculous and a total waste of public coffers. This is by far more than what the department spent which was R15000 per school when schools were reopened after hard lockdown.

This was revealed by MEC Lesufi in a written reply to my questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

Magic Engineers and many other companies implicated, as well as identified officials must be investigated, while the recovery of the wasted money is imperative.

We have also tabled written questions to the MEC to provide us with the details of this tender which includes the names of the companies that were awarded this tender and monies paid to them. We also demand the names of the officials implicated and the progress report on the implementation of the SIU preliminary report recommendations.

The DA will continue to demand the SIU preliminary report to be made public to monitor the progress of the implementation of the recommendations to ensure that those who are implicated are brought to book and they pay back every cent owed to the education of our children.

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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Parents must secure their child’s Grade 1 school placement by applying online from tomorrow

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is urging all parents and guardians to secure their child’s school placement and ensure that they do not miss a day of schooling by submitting their applications through the online admission system which opens tomorrow, 13 September, for Grade 1 learners of the 2022 academic year.

Parents and guardians must apply for online admission before the closing date on 8 October. This will ensure that their child’s school is secured and that they are placed in their preferred school.

Delays in applying for online admission has had a huge negative impact on the future of our children in that many learners across the province have missed months of schooling.

This is the most critical level of learning as the child will be starting their first stage of academic life at a primary school and everything must be planned properly so that they enjoy the new beginnings. In most cases, failure by parents to apply timeously affects both them and their child as they will be frustrated, and will be unable to budget for school uniforms, stationery, and scholar transport, not be knowing whether their child has secured a place or not.

Parents who are facing difficulties with their applications and those who do not have internet access should go to their nearest Gauteng Department of Education regional office for assistance with their applications.

We will continue to engage with the department to communicate with the parents to inform them about the progress of their applications and those applications that have been received on time must be prioritised.

We all have a responsibility to ensure that we protect our children’s right to access to basic education, where parents must apply online on time and the department must ensure the placement of all learners.

The DA will continue to monitor the online admission process from Grade 1 and 8 to ensure that the process is running smoothly for the benefit of the future of our children, and where there are system glitches, we will inform the department that is tasked with the responsibility to secure school placement for our children.

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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Parents must apply for online admission to ensure children don’t miss 2022 academic year

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on all parents and guardians to make use of the online admission system which opens today, 10 August, to apply for their children’s school placement to ensure that no education-deserving learner misses a day of schooling when the new 2022 academic year begins.

Delays in applying for online admission has resulted in many learners across the province missing months of schooling, and learners being placed in schools that have not been chosen by their parents.

The first phase of Gauteng online admission is open today, 10 August and is set to close on 3 September. The second phase will open on 13 September and close on 8 October. The learner’s placement of phase one will happen between 15 October and 30 November, while phase two will be between 15 and 20 November.

We urge parents and guardians to use this opportunity to start applying for their children immediately and not to wait for the last minute, while those who do not have internet access should go to their nearest designated centre to be assisted with the online application. Parents who are also facing difficulties with their applications should also go to their nearest designated centre.

We also call on the Gauteng Department of Education to ensure that all the applications received on time are processed and the learner’s placement is done within the stipulated timeframe.

Based on previous experiences, many parents whose children were not allocated schools claim that they had applied on time. It is the responsibility of the department to regularly communicate with parents by informing them whether their child or children have been placed in a school. Should the preferred school experience a high admission demand and the child cannot be accommodated, the department should communicate to the parents so that they can opt for other nearby schools.

The DA will continue to monitor the online admission process to ensure that there are no glitches in the system. We call on the department to provide regular updates with regards to the number of applications received and ensure that the number of applications is the same as the number of placements on each phase.

We cannot have a repeat of previous years where education-deserving children are denied access to basic education on the first day of the new academic year because of the department’s incompetency to ensure that all learners who applied on time are prioritised and placed in school.

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status. 

 

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Learners denied access to everyday schooling as GDE fails to prepare for the return of all primary school grades

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is very concerned that all primary school grades across the province will not be able to return to school this week as the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has failed to prepare the necessary resources for these schools.

This is unacceptable, as learners will continue to miss out on the much-needed every day schooling, as the current system of rotational learning that was adopted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is ineffective and simply not enough, with learners having fallen behind in the curriculum.

By so doing, the department is denying primary school learners their right to access basic education.

This is further widening the inequality gap as learners from no fee-paying schools are highly affected while private schools are progressing with daily schooling.

Furthermore, the fee-paying schools have access to adequate resources such as online learning and teaching options to continue with schoolwork, while learners from no-fee schools sit at home and wait for their allocated school day.

The department is aware that many schools had challenges of overcrowded classrooms of more than 50 learners per class, yet they failed to plan in terms of resources allocation to ensure that additional classrooms and teachers are provided to meet the required health protocols to maintain social distance.

The DA calls on the department to reprioritise resources and ensure that all primary school learners return to school so that learning and teaching can take place in a conducive environment.

Department senior officials were quick to feast R431 million on decontamination of schools but very slow to provide additional resources to assist schools to catch up on lost time to cover the curriculum. We will continue to hold GDE MEC, Panyaza Lesufi accountable for failure to provide school resources. The future of our children will not suffer due to the department’s incompetency and failure to reprioritise resources accordingly.

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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Learners suffer overcrowded classrooms because of wasted millions on school decontamination

Thousands of children are being taught in overcrowded classrooms yet the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is failing to recover over R430 million wasted on the decontamination of schools.

This money could be used in ensuring that our learners are taught in a conducive learning environment where their educational development can be nurtured.

The Gauteng Department of Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi must use the Special Investigative Unit’s (SIU) investigation progress report as evidence to suspend the department’s top officials.

This follows the recent announcement by the SIU that they have been granted a preservation order to freeze seven more accounts of service providers appointed to decontaminate Gauteng schools.

The DA has already called on MEC Lesufi to suspend the department’s Head of Department (HOD), Edward Mosuwe, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Johan van Coller and Supply Chain Management Chief Director, Samora Mhlophe.

This was after the SIU released report findings indicating that 173 service providers appointed to decontaminate Gauteng schools were not accredited and not on the Central Supplier Database.

It is strange that MEC Lesufi has not yet acted on these top officials considering that the department irregularly spent more than R431 million on the decontamination of schools within three months.

The SIU’s job is enough to compel MEC Lesufi to take action.

The progress made so far by the SIU is commendable and we believe that the recovered money can also go a long way to eradicate asbestos schools.

This will ensure that no child will have their health put in danger while trying to achieve an education.

The SIU has been granted a second order to freeze bank accounts of seven companies with the sum of R22.4 million.

This is an addition to the 14 accounts of service providers that were frozen with the sum of R40.7 million.

In total so far, the bank accounts of 21 companies have been frozen, and about R63.1 million can be recovered.

The good work done so far by the SIU will be in vain if the HOD, CFO and the Supply Chain Management Chief Director are not held accountable for failing to adequately review and monitor compliance in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act and treasury regulations.

It is high time that these officials face the consequences of their irresponsible actions that costed the ability of our children to be taught in a conducive learning environment.

The DA will not let MEC Lesufi sweep this matter under the rug.

We will continue to hound him to suspend the officials responsible for this wasteful expenditure, as well as recover the wasted money.

This money could be used to build new classrooms and eradicate asbestos schools , so that children from across the province can have a suitable environment to learn and grow.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

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Gauteng children still schooled in asbestos classes as Gauteng Department of Education underspends by R1,6 billion

The Democratic Alliance is very concerned that several Gauteng schoolchildren are still being taught in asbestos classrooms in the province as the Department of Education failed to exercise its responsibility to conduct crucial maintenance to school buildings.

The Gauteng Department of Education had underspent their budget by a whopping R1.6 billion for the 2020/21 financial year, money that could have been used to eradicate asbestos classrooms and conduct crucial maintenance to dilapidated schools.

This information was revealed in the department’s fourth quarter report for the said financial year.

The department received an initial allocation of R52.9 billion. In terms of year-to-date expenditure, the department has spent R51.2 billion. This leaves the department with an under expenditure of R1.6 billion during the financial period.

The constant failure by the department to spend its full budget has a consequential impact on delivering quality education to children.

Most of the school infrastructure is old and dilapidated, and in dire need of proper regular maintenance, yet the department left billions of rands unspent.

This clearly indicates a lack of proper planning by the department as they are aware of the infrastructure challenges facing our schools. This money could have been used in eradicating asbestos schools, building more schools where there are new housing developments, particularly in Johannesburg North, Johannesburg South, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane to avoid overcrowding in classrooms.

The environment in which both learners and teachers are exposed to on a daily basis in many of the schools across the province is not conducive for learning and teaching which greatly concerns the DA. Teachers and learners deserve a safe and comfortable environment in which to work and learn.

The DA will continue to exert pressure on the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi to reprioritise the department’s expenditure plans to ensure proper budget allocation, focusing on school infrastructure by building more schools and classrooms, eradicating asbestos schools, and providing regular, proper maintenance.

The DA believes that under expenditure on education and related infrastructure is a dereliction of duty and fails our children and future, given the very high demand for quality education in our province and is concerned about the social and economic impacts it has when our children do not receive proper education in properly built and maintained schools.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.