Rhino deaths ‘not properly reflected’
UP TO R8 million could have disappeared from the coffers of the Prinshof School for the Visually Impaired, according to former accountant Cathy Botha, who alleges she lost her job after blowing the whistle about damning evidence incriminating individuals at the Pretoria school.
According to Botha, some staff at the school have been helping themselves to money allocated for pupils.
Gauteng Department of Education spokeswoman Phumla Sekhonyane said that after receiving Botha’s information, the department had done a preliminary investigation, and the appointed auditors would report back at the end of the month.
Botha, who was employed at the school as a financial officer in 2013, said she noticed immediately that something was amiss with the accounts.
While taking over from the previous accountant, she claims she noticed that the school was operating two bank accounts.
One was a trust account with a balance of R5m, which she was allegedly told to ignore as it did not belong to the school.
Botha said she grew more suspicious after receiving a call from Absa requesting a change of address for the account.
It was to be changed to the former accountant’s personal address.
“It was because of this request that I started doing my own investigations.”
She discovered that despite the school being a Section 21 institution, state subsidies amounting to R3 278 301.29 had been used to start a trust account.
“What also raised my curiosity was that seven Gauteng Department of Education employees, the school’s typist and a school governing body member were the initiates of the fund,” said Botha.
After consulting the former principal, and despite being ordered to leave the matter alone and simply deal with accounts dating from when her contract started, Botha said she decided to report the matter – with proof – to the Tshwane West district.
Botha also alleges that the school’s credit cards were used for petrol for staff members’ private vehicles and to buy groceries amounting to R9 000 during December 2013.
“When I queried the blatant and irregular use of the school’s funds for personal use, and why the previous financial officer was receiving four salaries and a yearly honorarium, I was accused of attacking staff members,” she said.
Despite many visits and calls to the public protect- or’s office and the national Department of Education, and even sending a letter to Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi’s office asking for the irregular expenditure at the school to be probed, Botha said she was ignored and unfairly dismissed by the school’s new principal, Karen Swart.
“I wasn’t expecting some honour or payment for blowing the whistle on the corruption at the school, just for justice to prevail.
“Instead, I got the raw end of the deal. The national Department of Education in Tshwane fooled me by pretending to be attending to my grievances, yet they were planning my demise,” she said.
“Black people are suffering; we don’t know what it feels like to experience real justice, especially if it is white people committing the crime.
“Our departments are willing to sacrifice me and let millions meant to benefit the blind learners at the school go to waste just to keep this quiet and pretend as if they are working,” said an emotional Botha.
The former accountant said she had taken her dismissal to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Department representatives had not attended and her matter had been forwarded to the Labour Court.
She alleges the school was plagued by unfair treatment of pupils and employees, unfair labour practices and racism.
Botha believes her contract should have been extended until the issues had been resolved and it would be a long time before she saw justice because of the Labour Court delays.
Swart was aware of the allegations but was prohibited from commenting on the matter as it was up to the Education Department to deal with it.
Sekhonyane said Botha was employed at Prinshof School on a contract, which had expired on June 30, 2014. She said that following the expiry of the contract, Botha had lodged a dispute and taken up the matter with the CCMA.
“The matter was, however, dismissed by the CCMA and is currently at the Labour Court.”
Sekhonyane said Botha had made various allegations against the school, including allegations of financial irregularities involving trust funds.
“Following our preliminary investigations, we appointed an independent auditing firm to fully investigate these allegations. The final report is expected at the end of the month.
“The matter regarding Botha’s alleged dismissal is to be heard at the Labour Court in June,” she said. THE NUMBER of rhinos poached in South Africa last year was lower than in 2014, representing modest progress by law enforcement in countering poachers, according to a conservation group.
Citing unidentified sources, Elise Daffue, founder of StopRhinoPoaching.com, said about 1 160 cases of rhino poaching were reported last year, down from 1 215 in 2014. If the statistic is confirmed, it would be the first annual drop in numbers since rhino poaching surged around 2008.
Other conservationists, however, believe the number of rhinos killed last year was higher. During a visit to South Africa early last month, Britain’s Prince Harry said poachers had killed 1 500 rhinos in 2015. He did not cite a source.
The government plans to release its own 2015 statistics on rhino poaching early this year.
Conservationist Allison Thomson, who believes the number of rhinos poached in 2015 is higher than 1 160, said there was an increase in rhino orphans whose mothers were killed by poachers.
“The stats do not reflect the collateral damage of rhinos that died subsequent to being a victim of an attempted poaching and all the carcasses that lie in the bush yet to be found,” Thomson said.
She speculated that the government sought to downplay the rhino poaching problem by issuing less frequent updates on poaching statistics. Environment Minister Edna Molewa said the government was committed to providing accurate and timely information. – AP