Cape Town - Westerford High School has dismissed an employee who allegedly stole money from the school for years, amounting to about R2.4 million.
In a letter issued to parents on Friday, the Rondebosch-based school said its bursar recently discovered that an employee in the finance office had transferred money from the school’s account to her personal account.
“On further investigation, it was discovered that she had been doing this since 2012 and, based on our initial investigation, the total amount of money lost by the school during this period amounts to approximately R2.4 million,” the letter reads.
It was signed by the school’s board of governors’ chairperson, Lynette Zimbler, and treasurer Dieter Schulze
“The employee’s service was immediately terminated, and despite an initial undertaking from her, it is clear that she is not able to repay this money. The theft has been reported to the SAPS for prosecution,” they said.
According to the school’s website, fees for the year are in excess of R36 000.
The school said its finance committee had held a meeting to ask its auditors for an explanation as to why the school had not been alerted to risks associated with financial controls over certain payments during the seven years that the firm has been its auditors.
“The board will report this matter to the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors, as well as to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority for investigation.
“The board is in the process of obtaining a legal opinion on the feasibility of taking civil action against the auditors,” the letter said.
The board has also instructed another auditing firm to conduct an independent investigation and to make recommendations to eliminate other risk areas.
It is also investigating audit reports from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to gain more information on checks of financial controls.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department was aware of the letter issued to parents, but said the staff member in question was not the department’s employee.
“The staff member is not an employee of the WCED.
“The staff member was employed by the SGB (school governing body). As this is an SGB post, the SGB has to institute disciplinary action,” Hammond said.
The department could not disclose any further information regarding the investigation, Hammond added.
Principal Rob le Roux yesterday said the school became aware of the alleged theft about three or four weeks ago.
When the school was initially notified, the amount was nowhere near the millions eventually ascertained to be missing, he said.
The R2.4m was also not necessarily the total amount stolen, Le Roux added, but further investigation would shed light on this.
Provincial police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said a case of fraud was opened for investigation at Rondebosch police station. “The investigation continues,” he said.