Sibanengi Dube discovers that a teacher found guilty of forging report cards has yet to pay for his crime
An East Rand teacher who was found guilty of selling school reports by the Gauteng disciplinary committee is still at work and has not yet paid the R6 000 he was fined.
Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) spokesman, Mothondlana Tshepo, said Thomas Sibeko of Mammellong Secondary school in Tsakane, was not given marching orders after the evidence which was presented at the hearings was carefully considered. The hearing commenced in 1998.
“He was charged and found guilty and dismissal is not the only punishment to be metered out to offenders,” said Tshepo.
Sibeko, an Afrikaans and Zulu teacher, sold fake reports to pupils at R50 each. The students used the reports to seek vacancies in other schools on transfer and to impress their parents.
However, information pertaining to the number of reports he sold is still sketchy. A report was presented during the hearings, but Sibeko denied that he issued it out to a “client”.
Sibeko also said he was not going to pay the R6 000, arguing that the GDE’s disciplinary committee erred in its finding.
“I don’t know how they will make me pay, maybe they will deduct it from my salary, but the final decision was unfair because I did not sell the reports,” said Sibeko, a member of the Professional Educators’ Union. He added that no student was brought forward to testify against him and vowed to appeal against the conviction and sentence.
Sibeko also said he was initially given a warning, but was surprised to receive a communication from the department fining him R6 000. However, the department’s verdict was met with revulsion from fellow teachers who felt that the soft stance was tantamount to condoning corruption.
A teacher who works with Sibeko and asked not to be named, said: “The validity of reports, especially from Tsakane, are now in the spotlight and Sibeko’s case has set a bad precedent because nobody will be fired in future for the same misdemeanour.”
The teacher also warned that there was a danger that the community might take the law into their own hands and punish Sibeko.
Another teacher said Sibeko was supposed to have been dismissed, adding that keeping him was a mockery to the seriousness of the offence.
“The practice really discourages students from working hard, by giving them the wrong notion that there is always a short-cut to success,” he complained.
The principal of Mamelong, Hans Shaenck, said it was easy for any teacher to get hold of a school report or stamp.
The East Rand leadership of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union condemned the sentence and maintained that a stiffer penalty would have a clear message that sale of reports was not condoned.
Mukasi Mure, leader of the local structures of Sadtu, said putting school reports on sale is viewed as a serious offence in the teaching fraternity. “The Act which governs the employment and conduct of teachers was supposed to be enforced, but the very people who are expected to enforce it decided to waive it,” he said.
Mure also said the union was not going to take any action against Sibeko because he was not a member of Sadtu.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, February, 2001.