An Eastern Cape school principal and three staff members yesterday appeared in Stutterheim Magistrates Court for allegedly stealing from the school nutrition programme.
Kubusi Combined School’s principal Zukile Ntlanzi and teachers Nomakhosazana Ncunani, Daniwe Jakuja and school caretaker Michael Dilika, were granted R500 bail each.
They were charged after being arrested on Friday with theft of school nutrition groceries and gadgets such as computers and tablets.
Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Siphokazi Mawisa said the principal and two teachers were arrested on Friday after police received a tip-off they were loading and transporting groceries valued at around R1000 in Ntlanzi’s vehicle.
Mawisa said police acted swiftly and found the three educators with groceries stashed in the principal’s vehicle.
According to court documents, some of the groceries found included a 12.5kg bag of maize meal, a bag of butternuts, 5kg tin of beans, 12.5kg samp, 10kg rice and 12.5kg of sugar.
Dilika was arrested later on Friday at his Kubusi Village home he shares with one of the arrested teachers. He was found in possession of two school computers.
Other items allegedly found in possession of Dilika included about 20 tablets meant to be handed over to the school’s matric class, a lawnmower and a wheelbarrow – items which allegedly disappeared in one of many burglaries at the school.
In court they asked to be provided with state attorneys, but the court refused saying they could afford their own legal representatives.
To avoid the angry crowd baying for their blood outside court, the three educators were whisked away through a court back door by a policeman.
At the school many teachers refused to speak about the incident while they also threatened to call police, accusing a Dispatch team of trespassing.
School governing body treasurer Luyanda Somani said there has been a lot of burglaries at the school in recent months.
Somani said he had looked into the school’s finances and found “they were not in order” and that they needed to be investigated.
Neliswa Patsa, a grandmother of one of the pupils, said what had happened was “a disgrace”.
“This is very painful that people our children look up to are the ones behind this,” Patsa said.
She said Kubusi village was a poverty stricken area where most children depended on the school nutrition programme to get decent meals.
Another community member, Ndileka Ngxakangxaka said theft had been ongoing for some time at the school. Pupils were always blamed for the spate of burglaries, said Ngxakangxaka.
“People are not working here and this is basically killing their future and only hope for those destitute kids,” she said.
Grade 12 pupil Sinethemba Blaai said pupils no longer wanted the accused at the school, while another pupil Sibongile Bam said she was “disappointed and embarrassed” by their actions. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
Principal in court over food theft
Kubusi Combined School’s principal Zukile Ntlanzi and teachers Nomakhosazana Ncunani, Daniwe Jakuja and school caretaker Michael Dilika, were granted R500 bail each.
They were charged after being arrested on Friday with theft of school nutrition groceries and gadgets such as computers and tablets.
Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Siphokazi Mawisa said the principal and two teachers were arrested on Friday after police received a tip-off they were loading and transporting groceries valued at around R1000 in Ntlanzi’s vehicle.
Mawisa said police acted swiftly and found the three educators with groceries stashed in the principal’s vehicle.
According to court documents, some of the groceries found included a 12.5kg bag of maize meal, a bag of butternuts, 5kg tin of beans, 12.5kg samp, 10kg rice and 12.5kg of sugar.
Dilika was arrested later on Friday at his Kubusi Village home he shares with one of the arrested teachers. He was found in possession of two school computers.
Other items allegedly found in possession of Dilika included about 20 tablets meant to be handed over to the school’s matric class, a lawnmower and a wheelbarrow – items which allegedly disappeared in one of many burglaries at the school.
In court they asked to be provided with state attorneys, but the court refused saying they could afford their own legal representatives.
To avoid the angry crowd baying for their blood outside court, the three educators were whisked away through a court back door by a policeman.
At the school many teachers refused to speak about the incident while they also threatened to call police, accusing a Dispatch team of trespassing.
School governing body treasurer Luyanda Somani said there has been a lot of burglaries at the school in recent months.
Somani said he had looked into the school’s finances and found “they were not in order” and that they needed to be investigated.
Neliswa Patsa, a grandmother of one of the pupils, said what had happened was “a disgrace”.
“This is very painful that people our children look up to are the ones behind this,” Patsa said.
She said Kubusi village was a poverty stricken area where most children depended on the school nutrition programme to get decent meals.
Another community member, Ndileka Ngxakangxaka said theft had been ongoing for some time at the school. Pupils were always blamed for the spate of burglaries, said Ngxakangxaka.
“People are not working here and this is basically killing their future and only hope for those destitute kids,” she said.
Grade 12 pupil Sinethemba Blaai said pupils no longer wanted the accused at the school, while another pupil Sibongile Bam said she was “disappointed and embarrassed” by their actions. — asandan@dispatch.co.za
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