R6m embezzled from special-needs school — experts say it’s part of a larger education crisis

While families placed their trust in the New Hope School in Pretoria to care for and educate children with disabilities, a senior staff member was quietly diverting millions meant for their support. 

Over a period of four years, Ralton Christopher Fischer, then the school’s human resources manager, stole more than R6-million. The money went to fuel a gambling addiction and purchase a car, while the school was left grappling with financial shortfalls and rising tax debts. 

Fischer has now been sentenced to 12 years behind bars, six of them suspended, after pleading guilty to using ghost employees and fake bank accounts to drain school coffers. He was sentenced by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 30 June, after pleading guilty to 11 counts of fraud committed between July 2018 and April 2022. 

At the time, Fischer was responsible for managing payments to staff employed by the School Governing Body (SGB), rather than by the Gauteng Department of Education. During this period, he fraudulently transferred funds into multiple bank accounts registered in his name, using the details of ghost employees.

The scheme came to light when Fischer asked a colleague to forward documents to his personal email. The colleague noticed irregularities and raised concerns, leading to an internal investigation and the eventual discovery of the fraud. Fischer was arrested on 4 April 2023.

In court, Fischer claimed that the stolen money was used to support a gambling addiction and to purchase a Volkswagen Golf GTI worth R150,000. He appealed for a lenient sentence, citing his role as a father of four minor children, two of whom have disabilities. He requested either correctional supervision or a wholly suspended sentence.

However, the State argued for a custodial sentence. Advocate Abram Machitela, representing the prosecution, said the crime represented a serious abuse of trust and had a direct negative impact on the school and its vulnerable learners, many of whom rely on wheelchairs and specialised support. He also highlighted that the fraud led to more than R500,000 in tax liabilities for the school.

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Magistrate Du Preez concurred with the prosecution, stating that Fischer’s actions were driven not only by addiction but also by greed and selfishness. The court found that Fischer’s guilty plea was motivated by the strength of the State’s case rather than genuine remorse. 

Widespread mismanagement

Mzwandile Banjathwa, campaign coordinator at Corruption Watch, stated that financial mismanagement within South African schools is widespread and deeply concerning. 

He highlighted that Corruption Watch has been monitoring corruption in the education sector for more than a decade. Their first report, released around 2012, focused primarily on basic education.

More recently, in 2022, they published a comprehensive report addressing corruption across the broader education system, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, as well as basic education institutions. These reports reveal persistent issues such as embezzlement and procurement irregularities, among others. 

“What we found was that there was a huge problem around the mismanagement of school funds by members of the SBG and we find that it’s about 45% of those reports we’re pointing to misappropriation of resources, maladministration, abuse of authority, employment irregularities and  procurement irregularities as well,” he said. 

These reports were mainly from Gauteng, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Free State. 

Read more: Theft, fraud, extortion – Corruption watchdog red-flags abuse of schools by governing bodies

“...they were pointing at the SGBs themselves, the administrators themselves, and also school principals, which was a very huge problem for us at that particular time,” said Banjathwa.

“It is a very big problem in South Africa and this is mainly happening in low-income communities where you find that there isn’t sufficient money for people anyway, so that’s a very huge problem.”

Financial mismanagement factors

Banjathwa explained that several factors contribute to the problem of financial mismanagement in schools. 

“Firstly, many members of SGBs lack formal financial training, which hampers their ability to manage school funds effectively. Secondly, there is often no mandatory independent audit conducted for schools, reducing accountability. There can also be conflicts of interest when some SGB members award contracts to themselves, their families, friends, or even teachers within the school, further exacerbating corruption risks,” he said.

Banjathwa said the situation clearly highlights significant weaknesses in procurement and payroll oversight, which represent a major structural flaw in the education system. 

Although the Department of Education operates a centralised payroll system through Persal, this does not fully prevent problems. 

“Unfortunately, Persal does not cover a lot of things. It does not cover funds that are received by schools through donations, through school fees, and so forth.

“So that is where a lot of corruption tends to happen, because you find that some teachers are appointed by the school governing bodies, administrators are appointed in some instances by the SGBs, and there are also cleaners and helpers in the school who are appointed by the SGBs,” he said.

The bulk of corruption tends to occur precisely because this money is not managed through the centralised system. As a result, the Department of Education often does not know who is employed at a school, how much they are earning, or even whether these employees actually exist.

Need for SGB oversight

Demichelle Petherbridge, senior attorney at SECTION27, said that SGBs hold a position of trust within their school communities, tasked with making decisions that serve the best interests of learners and staff. She said cases like the one involving New Hope School expose significant systemic vulnerabilities, particularly in the oversight and transparency of SGB-administered funds.

“Cases such as this highlight the need for strong oversight and transparency within SGB decision-making processes, and may indicate the need to further capacitate SGBs on their roles and responsibilities,” she said. 

The consequences of financial mismanagement have devastating consequences on the quality of education children receive. 

Petherbridge explained that such mismanagement often results in insufficient resources to maintain school infrastructure, pay essential utility bills, or purchase necessary materials like paper, stationery and other materials  that assist with the running of a school.

“Financial mismanagement can therefore potentially impact the conditions in which learning takes place and negatively affect how education is provided,” she said. 

Expand centralised payroll system 

To address these issues, Banjathwa emphasised the need to strengthen payroll oversight by expanding the centralised payroll system as this would greatly improve transparency and accountability. This would enable the department to know exactly who is employed at each school, how much they earn, and allow for timely detection of irregularities. 

However, he also noted that while some policies exist on paper, they are often not effectively implemented at the school level, which undermines their impact. 

“For example the Public Audits Act, it doesn’t necessarily audit individual schools, but it does audit the provincial government and national government which should rely mainly on the data that is given to them by schools. So that is the first loophole that you are able to see,” he said.

Banjathwa also said that regular and standardised audits that go to schools would assist schools greatly. 

“It’s also very important to have a standardised and mandatory training given to members of the SGBs, because that’s another issue that is quite problematic. Most of these individuals do not have financial training, so they are unable to pick up these loopholes timelessly and that’s a very huge problem,” he said. 

Petherbridge voiced similar solutions, calling for enhanced training and capacity-building for SGBs and emphasising the Department of Basic Education’s responsibility to ensure this under the South African Schools Act.

“One solution may be to further train and capacitate SGBs on their roles and responsibilities and the Department of Basic Education has a responsibility to ensure such training in terms of the South African Schools Act. However, learners and parents are also free to inspect a school’s financial documents and may request to see these and ensure further accountability,” she said. 

Regarding the recent sentencing in the case, Petherbridge believes it sends a positive message about accountability but that additional measures could be more impactful. 

“Within the context of this case, additional community service to assist schools with learners with disabilities would also have been a beneficial sanction,” she said. 

In a statement, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the sentence, describing it as a firm response to white-collar crime, and a necessary measure to protect vulnerable communities.

“The NPA remains unwavering in its commitment to protecting vulnerable communities, particularly children with special needs. This case highlights the organisation’s zero tolerance for white-collar crime, especially when committed by individuals who abuse positions of trust. Stealing from a school that serves learners with disabilities is both morally and legally indefensible,” read the statement. DM