ELM spends R1.8 million on short courses
The DA was shocked to discover that there were no students and that the school seemed to be not fully operational.
SEDIBENG.- The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) residents continue to suffer due to a lack of experts with the requisite skills to deliver adequate services, yet it has spent over R1,8 million on short courses lasting three to six months, so said Kingsol Chabalala, Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng Constituency Head for Emfuleni North.
According to Chabalala ELM has spent R 1 814 930 from July 2022 to March 2023 on school fees for 85 employees at Jengrac Technical College in Sebokeng. These are all semester courses and accredited National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (Nated) programmes covering the N2- N6 spectrum.
He said that this information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mzi Khumalo, in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL). According to MEC Khumalo, the September 2022 invoice was R775 536 for 36 registered employees, and the March 2022 invoice was R1 039 394 for 49 registered employees.
Chabalala said that the DA conducted an oversight inspection at Jengrac Technical College, and was shocked to discover that there were no students and that the school seemed to be not fully operational. Chabalala further said that the DA has documents that indicate that Emfuleni has made five more payments for their employees’ registration fees which are not included in the replies.
“We analysed the school fees for different courses issued compared to the number of Emfuleni employees registered from July 2022 to March 2023, and we discovered that Emfuleni’s costs were inflated. The college is charging Emfuleni ridiculous fees, which creates a suspicion that it is being used as a tool to loot from the financially cash-strapped municipality.”
“This shows that Emfuleni might have misled the MEC in its replies to the DA. The DA demands that an audit be conducted of all the monies spent by Emfuleni on this college. Should it be found that there were elements of corruption, those implicated, including officials and politicians, must be held to account.”
The DA said that it will submit further questions to ascertain how much has been spent on Jengrac College since Emfuleni started sending its employees and when and how employees attended classes.
