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On 20 January 2017, the South African Council of Educators (SACE) committed to respond, in writing, to the allegations of corruption put to them by the DA by the end of February. However, a month has passed and the DA is yet to receive any correspondence from SACE on the matter.

The DA will now present these allegations of corruption to the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, to demand that she investigate possible corruption at SACE.

SACE is mandated to ensure that teachers and principals who are accused of misconduct are held to account. Their role is, therefore, critical in ensuring our children are kept safe from those educators who wish to harm them.

The DA condemns the failure by SACE to respond to these allegations and they must be held to account for their lack of transparency when it comes to their own misconduct.

Whistleblowers have alerted the DA to various irregularities at SACE, including:

• The CFO not having the qualifications, skills and experience for the position, and resorts to intimidation to scare off any objections to his alleged corruption;
• The COO appointing unqualified investigators to probe corruption;
• Nepotism regarding administrative positions at SACE;
• The IT systems at SACE being improved by a company without a proper tender process; and
• Irregularities regarding the salary pay scale of SACE employees.

In the meantime, the Public Protector has been investigating these allegations, as well as a long list of other alleged corrupt activities at SACE.

The abrupt resignation of the CEO of SACE, Rej Brijraj, on 31 January 2017, has lead the DA to believe that there may be substance to the allegations.

The DA demands that Minister Motshekga provide clarity on her department’s awareness of the possible crisis at SACE and her assurance that she will investigate the matter fully.

Issued by DA