adminSimelaphi Nxumalo (48) of 13900 Pumula South, who has been acting head of the school since 2009, squandered school funds without the knowledge of the School Development Committee (SDC).
Instead of being the custodian of the funds responsible for banking the money in the school bank account, Nxumalo converted a total of $696,93 to her own use.
She was convicted on her own plea when she appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Victor Mpofu on Friday.
Nxumalo was sentenced to 24 months in prison of which 10 months were suspended for three years on condition she does not within that period commit a similar offence and a further 10 months were suspended on condition she completes 330 hours of community service at Premier High School in Pumula South.
The remaining four months were also suspended for three years on condition she restitutes the school by the 20th of this month.
The court considered that she was a female first offender and that she had pleaded guilty and therefore did not waste the court’s time.
Nxumalo had before sentence begged the court to be lenient with her saying she was prepared to pay restitution to the school.
She told the court that she stole the money because she desperately needed it since her husband was in South Africa leaving her as the breadwinner.
The State’s case was that between March 2009 and May last year when Nxumalo was the acting head, she was entrusted with the money and was supposed to do banking and only withdraw it upon request from the SDC and use it for development purposes at the school.
Last May the SDC chairman Mr Abraham Ndlovu checked the SDC account and discovered there was a shortfall of $275.
Mr Ndlovu inquired from Nxumalo and she admitted she withdrew the money and converted it to her own use.
The SDC enlisted the services of Government auditors who then discovered that $696,93 was missing, leading to Nxumalo’s arrest.
Nothing was recovered.
Mr Malvern Nzombe prosecuted.
Online Reporter