The South African Council for Educators SACE ON Ministerial Task Team MTT Report on Selling of Posts 1 INTRODUCTION SACE acknowledges the MTT report It appreciates the report as a sincere effort to rid the profession of corruption and to strengthen the education system S ID: 590111
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PRESENTATION TO PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE FROM: The South African Council for Educators (SACE) ONMinisterial Task Team (MTT) Report on “Selling of Posts”
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INTRODUCTIONSACE acknowledges the MTT report. It appreciates the report as a sincere effort to rid the profession of corruption and to strengthen the education system. SACE wishes to make the following clarifications:SACE welcomes the report’s recommendation that educators and officials be referred to the SAPS for further investigation. The Council awaits these outcomes and will follow up on educators investigated to determine any breach of the Code of Ethics. (Rec 1 & 2) SACE has difficulty in understanding why “both school based and office based educators cease to be office bearers of political parties...” (Rec 11). If educators are prevented from being office bearers of political parties at the different levels, then political parties would be bereft of the largest intellectual pool in the country for its leadership ranks and will have to look for non-teachers to fill positions. This may not be good for a nascent democracy, considering that many a good political leader have been school teachers, as evident in our history. Teachers are leaders. It may be wiser to restrict political propaganda or political manipulation from any quarter (Rec 13). Rec 15 encapsulates a theme that pervaded sections of the report. There is a perception that SADTU dominates the decisions of SACE. This matter needs to be clarified. The SACE Act (no 31 of 2000) specifies that 18 of the 30 member Council be members from the organised teaching profession. The National Teacher Unions have agreed that 12 of these members come from SADTU. So indeed SADTU has the strongest voice. Obviously, SADTU does not have the majority in Council, as alleged. To say that SADTU (which is affiliated to COSATU that supports the ANC) muscles in to control SACE and even to influence its decisions is both misleading and malicious.
SACE has other unions’ leaders in Council (Presidents & Vice Presidents), Ministerial reps and leaders of other stakeholder groupings, and it may be instructive to canvas their views on dominance and decision making in SACE. The above critique has even gone so far as to single out the CEO and Chairperson of SACE as coming from SADTU. The CEO does come from SADTU and was appointed unanimously after a second round of adverts for the post as the Council could not secure a suitable candidate in the first round.
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INTRODUCTION CONT..The CEO has yet to be accused of acting in a partial manner. Both NAPTOSA and SAOU have also chaired Council. Nearly all decisions of Council are by consensus. Rather than a reconceptualization of SACE, it is recommended that more scrutiny of nominations for Council is exercised by the Ministry, to ensure that educators are appointed to fulfil the profile prescriptions of the SACE Act. All nominations from the SACE stakeholders be subject to the same scrutiny, including Ministerial reps in Council. Recommendation 15 refers to the SACE investigation report on the “selling of posts.” The following points are noteworthy:SACE received no formal complaints from any quarter including the MTT;Many complaints were received anonymously;SADTU requested SACE to investigate this phenomenon;SACE immediately took the unprecedented step of setting up a five person investigation panel to follow up on the leads from the media and
anonymous complainants;Thorough investigations in the affected provinces could not yield any tangible evidence or wrong doing on the part of any educator andAlthough many educators spoke animatedly about corruption and bribery regarding the filling of promotion posts, no one availed themselves as witnesses.
Hence it is not ‘inexplicable’ that SACE could not provide the MTT with ‘hard and fast instances of malpractices
.’
This critique has developed a further dimension in that accusations are now being made that SADTU influenced “SACE to cover up and present a white-washed” report. SACE has never been or will ever be (at least in my term) party to masking the truth. We invite all concerned individuals or entities to come forward, with specific allegations
.
Recommendation 16, is accepted in the context of the above clarifications. The report from SACE on the “selling of posts” is annexed.
In conclusion, SACE remains in service of education and welcomes all critiques, recommendations and leads.
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“SELLING OF POSTS CONT..”During the financial year of 2014/15, Council was inundated with complaints of corruption regarding promotional posts. Most of these complaints were anonymous.These anonymous complaints necessitated Council to take progressive steps as prescribed in the Code of Professional Ethics, Disciplinary Procedures, 3.1 and 3.6.4.Complaints were from the following institutions: Mount Ayliff Senior Secondary School (EC); Kwesethu Secondary School (KZN); Viukuzakhe High School (KZN); Shumayela High School (KZN); Ramotshere
Moiloa Area Office (NW); Ngaka Modiri Molema Regional Office (NW); Petros Maziya Primary School;
Isibanisesizwe Primary School;
Tholukwazi
Primary School;
Lifa-Lethu
Primary School; Osizweni Primary School; Kiriyatswane School; Thisle Grove School; Mmaphala Gulube Primary School (All MP); and
Mpephose
Secondary School(KZN
).The CEO was then compelled to instruct the COO to formulate a special team to look at these allegations, noting that the National Department of Basic Education had already established its own team without the inclusion of Council. PURPOSEThe purpose of the investigation was to determine and test the truth on substantive evidence that would back the allegations that had been brought to the Council’s attention.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Evaluate and determine the further allegations of selling of promotional post by certain members of a particular educator’s union.Examine the role of the departmental officials in these allegations.Determine how the School Governing Bodies have been contributing to towards these unprofessional doings.Where there is enough evidence for a successful prosecution, Hearings must be instituted.
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“SELLING OF POST CONT..”Slide6
summary of interviews and findingsINSITUTIONFINDINGSMount Ayliff Senior Secondary School – Eastern Cape
Kwesethu
Secondary School – Kwa-Zulu Natal
*It is correct that the interviews were held twice.
*A grievance was lodged and dealt with by the Grievance Committee.
* The recommendation was that the process was to be redone.
* The SGB was notified of the outcome of the Grievance Committee and there were options given to them.
* The first option was that the SGB would be trained within a specific period so that they can run with the second interviews.
* The second option was that the department takes over the process.
* The SGB did not meet the time frame put and then the department took over the process.* The same educators who were initially invited, were once more invited but the then acting principal did not attend but the educator who had applied for the Head of Department attended.
* NO EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION AVAILED.
Vukuzakhe High School – Kwa-Zulu Natal
*The Branch Secretary has been co-ordinating meeting where the disruption of the school was planned.
*Learners confirmed such meeting and submitted recordings of discussions in those meetings.
* NO EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION AVAILED.
Shumayela High School – Kwa-Zulu Natal
*There were three postponed interviews processes.
*In all three processes candidates were informed on the days interviews were to sit.
*The candidates were duly invited that included the then Acting Principal, Mr. Zulu.
*In all these processes there was a dispute lodged by an educator who was in the same institute.
*The said educator was then given a
principal ship
post in another school.
*The departmental official who was in charge of the process was unaware of the previous sittings that were postponed.
*The fourth sitting went well but Mr. Zulu was not invited for the interviews and that’s where the newly appointed principal was recommended.
* NO EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION FORTHCOMING.Slide7
Summary of interviews and findings cont..7Ramotshere Moiloa Area Office – North West *Galeboye is employed as PS in the area office.* NO EVIDENCE OF WRONG DOING.
Ngaka Modiri Molema Regional Office
*
Owame
is employed at the regional office and she has subsequently resigned.
*The system is such that school that have post that have to be filled on a temporary basis.
*The area manager was not aware of the practise and who is implicated because he recalled that in one of the bilateral they had with SADTU these allegations emerged as rumours and there was no name attached.
*There was no direct engagement by the task team members with Galeboye since she is not an educator.
*A meeting of circuit managers was convened by the area manager to brainstorm on these allegations.
* NO EVIDENCE EMERGED.
Petros
Maziya
Primary School*The principal, Mr. HBP Nkosi
was a chairperson of the Branch
*He was appointed the principal on the
07
th
May 2013
*
NO EVIDENCE OF WRONG DOINGSlide8
summary of interviews and findings cont..Isabanisesizwe Primary School*The principal, Mr. C Molaba a chairperson of the Branch*He was appointed the principal on the 03
rd August 2012* NO EVIDENCE OF WRONG DOING
Tholukwazi
Primary School
*The principal,
Mrs. SJ
Masilela
is a Branch secretary
*She was appointed as the principal in 2013
* NO EVIDENCE OF WRONG DOINGLifa-lethu
Primary School
*The appointed Deputy Principal, Ms. TJ
Molepo
is Mr. S Molepo’s wife*She was appointed on the 03rd September 2013
*She was the third preferred candidate from the preferential list of the SGB
*The then District Director Ms. NV
Mthethwa
over turned the SGB’s recommendation and appointed Ms.
Molepo
*The SGB object to the decision of the District Director but in vain
*Ms. SJ
Masilela
, the branch secretary, who has been appointed as the principal of
Tholukwazi
Primary School, wrote a letter to the District Director to consider candidate no. 3 who happened to be Ms. TJ
Molepo
urging the her to consider Gender Equity*NO EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION
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Summary of interviews and findings cont..Osizweni Primary School*The appointed principal, Mr MV Mothupi, a SADTU official is the husband to Mrs. Mothupi who is a Deputy Principal of Mmaphala Secondary School* He was appointed on the 1
st August 2013.*NO EVIDENCE OF IRREGULARITYKiriyatswane School
The principal, Mr. S
Molepo
, a SADTU official was recommended by the SGB and appointed in 1988.
*NO EVIDENCE OF IRREGULARITY
Thisle Grove School
* The principal, Mr. J
Masilela
a then SADTU secretary was recommended by the SGB and appointed in August 2007
* NO EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION
Mmaphala Gulube Primary School
The deputy principal, Mrs. TL
Mothupi was recommended by the SGB and appointed on the 03rd August 2012
* NO EVIDENCE OF CORRUPTION
Mtubatuba;
Umkhanyakude
District
Mpephose
Secondary School –
Umbiya
Ward;
Empangeni
Region
No investigation conducted as complainants could not be
contacted.
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CONCLUSIONSACE is currently dealing with a case in KZN.In other institutions there was no sufficient evidence to procced preferring charges.There was evidence that the departmental officials were involved in this racket but due to fear of being victimized, no one was willing to come forward to testify against them.Nepotism in filling in the promotional posts is rife in Mpumalanga but it is difficult to unravel the corruption as tracks are well covered.It is alleged that where there is an influence from a Union the department of education ignores gender equity.It must be emphasised that SADTU requested SACE to conduct investigations into the allegation that it was involved in “selling of posts”.This happened towards the end of 2014, as SACE was also receiving anonymous complaints.It must also be emphasised that SACE was under no pressure to suppress any case against any educator.SACE continues to strive to implement its Mandates in a fair and reasonable manner, without fear or favour.
SACE remains open to investigate (and prosecute where relevant) any complaint against any educator, especially in cases where it could not secure evidence or witness (es).10Slide11
THANK YOU DANKIE SIYABONGAREYALEBOHA11