School principal suspended for financial mismanagement, again

Parents at Cofimvaba High School are demanding answers after the principal, Khulele Qamata, was suspended on charges of financial mismanagement. Photo: Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

• In 2022, Khulile Qamata resigned as principal of Nyanga Senior Secondary School after facing charges of sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement.
• A year later, he was appointed as principal of Cofimvaba High School.
• He has now been suspended from that school for alleged financial mismanagement.
• The Eastern Cape Department of Education cannot explain why he was appointed despite his disciplinary record.

A school principal in the Eastern Cape has been suspended on charges of financial mismanagement, three years after he resigned from another school where he was charged for the same offence, and for sexual misconduct.

In 2022, Khulile Qamata was principal at Nyanga Senior Secondary School when he was suspended on charges of sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement. Eleven pupils had accused him of sexual misconduct. (This school is in Ngcobo, Eastern Cape, not Nyanga, Cape Town.)

Eastern Cape spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima initially told GroundUp that Qamata had been found guilty, but resigned before he could be sanctioned. The department recorded that Qamata had been dismissed. But Mtima later revised his statement, saying Qamata resigned before the verdict was delivered.

A year after he resigned from Nyanga, in 2023, Qamata was appointed as principal of Cofimvaba High School, 67 kilometres away from Ngcobo. Now he has been suspended again, for financial mismanagement.

Mtima refused to explain why Qamata was appointed despite the charges he faced at Nyanga Secondary School.

Cofimvaba High School’s school governing body (SGB) chairperson, Vuyisile Bovu, confirmed the principal’s suspension but declined to comment further. “The department has advised us not to speak to the media until the investigation is complete,” said Bovu.

Qamata declined to comment.

The no-fee school achieved a 94% pass rate last year, up from 78.3% in 2023. But parents now want to know why Qamata was allowed to return to a leadership position. In a letter seen by GroundUp, they accuse the department of “exposing their children to danger” by reappointing Qamata. They claim there was a lack of transparency over the school’s finances.

The most recent letter from parents gave the department seven days to respond and to arrange a public meeting with the SGB. But the deadline was missed on Wednesday.

Fanela Njamela, a parent, said the department has not provided a financial report for the school or an explanation of why Qamata was hired. Parents have also raised concerns about safety at the school, he said.

Democratic Alliance (DA) MPL Horatio Hendricks said the party is appalled but unsurprised by the latest allegations at Cofimvaba High.

He said the department’s handling of misconduct cases shows a systemic failure to uphold safety in schools.

“The Eastern Cape Department of Education’s inaction and lack of transparency suggest not just failure, but complicity,” said Hendricks.

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