No paperwork for R422,936: ex-principal loses dismissal challenge

A former Johannesburg school principal has lost her bid to overturn her dismissal after an Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) arbitrator found that the Gauteng education department had fairly dismissed her for financial misconduct.

The charges faced by Selinah Moloi were that during January 1 2023 to June 30 2024, while the Montshiwa Primary School bank card was in her possession, unapproved cash withdrawals amounting to R422,936 from the school bank account were made and there was no supporting documentation.

The second charge was that during the same period, while the school bank card was in her possession, unapproved cash withdrawals of R512,240 were made which exceeded the stipulated R36,000 petty cash withdrawal in a year.

Moloi was found guilty and dismissed by the department.

She then referred a dispute to the ELRC for unfair dismissal.

The ELRC arbitrator, in an award made on Wednesday, found that Moloi’s dismissal was fair.

Evidence presented at the ELRC during May showed that a chartered accountant (CA) was mandated by the department to conduct an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of funds at the school following a whistle-blowing report to the department.

The CA testified that during the investigation, they discovered that R422,936 could not be accounted for through supporting documents. The CA further explained that the supporting documents were requisition forms, invoices from the suppliers and authorisation through minutes of the school governing body (SGB) meeting approving expenditure.

The CA said Moloi was able to supply them with supporting documents for the use of R89,303. There were no supporting documents for R422,936.

There is no documentary evidence before this forum to substantiate that those funds were in fact utilised for legitimate school purposes.

—  Gcina Mafani, ELRC arbitrator

“This meant that (Moloi) could not prove whether the amount was used for school purposes or not,” said ELRC arbitrator Gcina Mafani in summarising the evidence.

Moloi, who was appointed as school principal in November 2020, testified that before any use of school funds, the school governing board (SGB) would sit and discuss the need and agree on the use of the funds.

Mafani said Moloi’s explanation was that the funds were withdrawn to pay service providers who performed maintenance and other services for the school and that some service providers preferred payment in cash.

“There is no documentary evidence before this forum to substantiate that those funds were in fact utilised for legitimate school purposes. No invoices, receipts, quotations, contracts, requisitions, payment vouchers, or SGB resolutions were produced to verify the expenditure,” Mafani said.

Moloi also stated that some of the funds were utilised for farewell functions, picnics, maintenance work and other school activities.

“However, these assertions remain unsupported by any contemporaneous documentation.”

Mafani said Moloi’s defence that she was unaware of the circular ― limiting individual petty cash withdrawals to R3,000 and an annual petty cash withdrawal limit of R36,000 ― and that she lacked financial management training was not persuasive and did not constitute a valid justification for the breach.

“As the principal, the applicant occupied a position of authority and responsibility and was reasonably expected to familiarise herself with all policies and prescripts governing management of school finances.”

Mafani said there was no evidence to substantiate Moloi’s assertion that she sought assistance for training from district officials.

The arbitrator said the excessive cash withdrawals constituted a clear breach of the applicable financial prescripts and undermined the principles of accountability and sound financial management envisaged by the South African Schools Act.