Pretoria - The Gauteng Department of Education has opened a case against the principal of Westridge High School for authorising a trip using the school funds.
The Head of the Department Boy Ngobeni has ordered that the school principal be charged with misconduct in relation to a trip to a neighbouring country by three School Governing Body (SGB) members.
This follows an independent forensic report, which found that the school contravened the South African Schools Act as well as departmental policies in authorising a school trip to Zimbabwe, where an amount of R30 000 was spent.
"The report said the principal should be charged and funds should be recovered from all those who went on the school trip, if any of the members are still on the SGB, the department should take steps to remove them," said department spokesperson, Charles Phahlane.
Phahlane added that the department had already served the principal with a charge sheet and had started legal action to recover funds from those who went on the trip.
"The department wishes to make it clear that school funds may only be used for educational purposes and that we will not hesitate to take corrective measures to ensure that school funds are used appropriately," said Phahlane.
