Parents slam Eden Park SGB elections as corrupt

Angry parents and members of the scattered school governing body (SGB) at Eden Park Secondary School are calling on the National Association of School Governing Bodies to investigate the “illegal, irregular and nontransparent” elections held earlier this year.

The parents told The Citizen they had been hoping for free and fair elections, but were let down again by the electoral team, the school district and the Gauteng education department.

This was after they lodged several complaints of “corruption, nepotism and fraud” within the elections, with the schools’ district and the provincial department of education.

According to them, during the elections some members were elected to serve as SGB members in multiple schools, including Eden Park Secondary and Eden Park Primary School, without even appearing on any voters’ rolls.

“One of the candidates who did not appear on the voters’ roll, Piet Smith, was elected in both schools and was yesterday appointed as chair of the SGB at Eden Park Primary,” said one concerned parent.

“If the school allows newly, undemocratically elected members to commence serving on the SGB we will be leaving the door wide open for maladministration, fraud and corruption to be rife in our beloved school.”

Parents’ representative Stanton Myburgh said they wanted a re-election to be staged and for the National Association of School Governing Bodies to be present during it to ensure it was fair and the rules were adhered to.

Myburgh said the parents were displeased with how the elections were held and that if there was no re-election, any candidate who did not appear on the voters’ roll should be declared null and void, as communicated by the electoral officer.

“No investigation on claims that the voters’ roll was tampered with was done. No administrators authorised using the system has ever been questioned – instead, they were accused,” Myburgh added.

“The SGB policy clearly states you cannot serve on two SGB committees at the same time, but what raises eyebrows is the urgency using foul play, unconstitutional processes and procedures to serve on the SGB.”

Smith said he had been elected because he has children at both the schools and had not yet been appointed as a member.

“An objection against myself and other nominees was raised by the outgoing chair of the SGB and the objection was duly investigated,” Smith said.

“After consultation with the district electoral officer, the provincial monitor made his ruling and announced it to the meeting and the process continued.”

Smith said they were awaiting the department’s decision on the issue of re-elections and that he would appreciate any mediation to resolve the issue amicably.

Department of basic education spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed the department had received an appeal from an SGB member at Eden Park Secondary, indicating the electoral officer had ruled to nullify the decision of the school electoral process.

“Consequently, the provincial electoral officer convened a meeting, which was attended by the district electoral team, the school electoral team, newly elected SGB members and outgoing SGB members,” Mabona said.

“In our findings we realised the district was not supposed to have nullified the school electoral officer’s decision.”

Mabona added they had been advised that the school electoral officer’s decision be upheld.

“We will continue monitoring the situation very closely.”

SGBs meant to support

According to the South African Schools Act No 84 of 1996 as amended, section 23(1) and 23(2), school governing bodies came into existence in 1996, through the South African Schools Act (Act 84).

The purpose of the Act was to get parents, teachers, principals, pupils and community members to work together in the day-to-day running of a school, because they are best suited to understand the financial, social and cultural problems facing a school.

The main purpose of the SGB is to support the teaching staff (the principal and teachers) to ensure pupils get the best possible education.

The SGB does this through the development and implementation of a wide range of policies that govern areas such as applications, religious, discipline, language policy and the pupils’ code of conduct.

Another function of the SGB is to look after the finances of the school. This includes setting school fees, developing and managing the budget, and raising funds to supplement school fees.

The SGB consists of the following:

• School principal.
• Elected (voting) members: this may include parents of pupils at the school, teachers at the school, staff members who are not teachers, such as the financial administrator and, in the case of high schools, pupils at the school.
• Co-opted (non-voting) members: these members of the SGB are usually co-opted because they have a special relationship with the school (for example the farmer on whose land a farm school is situated) or is someone who brings a special skill to the table (such as an architect who can oversee construction projects).

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za