Eldorado Park residents stand against “corruption” at local schools
Allegations of School Governing Body (SGB) members taking school money for personal use, principals buying their positions, and funds at schools going missing have been made by a group of concerned residents from Eldorado Park.
Allegations of School Governing Body (SGB) members taking school money for personal use, principals buying their positions, and funds at schools going missing have been made by a group of concerned residents from Eldorado Park.
The group of concerned residents had a peaceful protest outside of Parkdale Primary where it has been alleged that the principal was removed without any charge sheet, money has been used by the SGB for personal use and the same SGB chairperson has been in that position for more than one year.
Petunia Bailey who was one of the residents at the protest said, “They took a principal from Heerengracht Primary School to come and act here. Why didn’t they take the deputy principal here at Parkdale Primary to be the caretaker?”
Bailey also has many concerns with other schools in Eldorado Park. She was also the chairperson of the SGB at Eldorado Park Secondary School in 2018 and explained that her year was hell. “I reported my issues to the Department of Education and after a meeting with the SGB, my issues were not resolved. In 2019, I took on the case by myself. For three years, I wrote letters to the Department of Education and had no reply until April 11, 2021,” explained Bailey.
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Eldorado Park Secondary School is currently under investigation and the response Bailey speaks of from MEC of Education Panyaza Lesufi regarding the school was sent via email.
“The Department initiated a Fraud Detection Review (FDR) investigation based on allegations of lack of transparency involving the handling of school finances amongst SGB members at Eldorado Park High School. The FDR was initiated in June 2019 after complaints were raised with the Department by a section of the School Governing Body.
“The Department’s investigative team that was deployed to the school was met with resistance and hostility by the members of the SGB and has thus delayed any progress with the investigation. The delay was further impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department is currently trying to secure the cooperation of the SGB to facilitate the resumption of the investigation. Once the investigation is completed the Department will be able to respond to the questions,” reads the response from Lesufi sent on April 11, 2021.
Nicole Myburgh who is another resident also brought up issues from Silver Oaks Secondary, Klipspruit West Secondary, and Nancefield Primary. “Our children matter, their education is important. Once investigations are done at Eldorado Park Secondary School, we want the rest of the schools to be investigated to get out any irregularities,” added Myburgh.
The two residents encourage parents to be more involved in the schools that their children attend. “We need to make them aware of the corruption that is taking place at our schools in Eldorado Park. If we do not keep an eye on our schools, they will continue to deteriorate,” concluded Bailey. The Department of Education was contacted for comment on the issues at the schools, however, at the time of publishing, no response had been received.
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