By Angelique Serrao
A school whose total budget for the year is R300 000 has had to spend half of that amount on a printer - which they do not need or want - and are paying an inflated price for it.
Tenders have been awarded to various companies to supply top-of-the-range office equipment to Section 20 schools in Gauteng. These are schools whose budgets are managed by the Department of Education.
A teacher at the school in the south of Joburg revealed that they were told at the end of last year to order a printer from a list.
Without pricings or explanations about the equipment, a Riso 970 MZ was ordered, which the school was charged R150 000 to lease over a three-year period.
Schools say the money could be far better used.
"We have a printer and didn't need another one," said the teacher. "The thing is that this money is taken from our maintenance and services budget. One printer will use up the entire budget for the year."
The teacher said the school needs new furniture, and their water and electricity accounts need to be paid.
"We are overloaded with pupils and there is so much we need. Instead we get printers."
The Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSSC) confirmed that Section 20 schools have ordered the printers.
Spokeswoman Khusela Sangoni said the Riso 970 costs R122 225 for 36 months' rental, or R3 350 a month. This price includes VAT, training, transportation maintenance and upgrade costs, she said.
The Star can reveal, however, that they are paying R150 197 or R4 172 a month - a mark-up of R27 972.
Sangoni also said the ink cost R204.62 a bottle, but The Star has established that it actually costs R274.57.
Sangoni said just less than 30 schools had the Riso 970 delivered to them
She could not explain the increased cost of the printer because, she said, the district offices were in charge of the budgets.
A printer company, which has sold printers to schools for many years, said they had noticed over the past year that some schools had taken delivery of the printers.
"The equipment ordered is by far an overkill from what a school needs," said a seller. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what machines were delivered.
"The Riso 970 has two drums and can run two jobs at once. A university would be happy with a machine like that."
He said he knew schools that locked away the printers because they were too expensive to run.
Sangoni said four companies had received tenders to supply office equipment to schools. These are Pambili Document Solutions, which supplies the Xerox brand; Safika for the Kyocera brand; Sizadawn Marketing CC for Riso; and Tswelopele Computers for Brother Faxes.
Sizadawn, based in Mofolo South, Soweto, has been supplying the Riso 970 to schools.
Financial director Sipho Sithole said they did not determine the price of the machines and that order forms went to the district office of education. He said they had not been paid by the GSSC since 2008 and their suppliers were demanding payment.
Mahlomola Kekana, from the National Association of Parents in School Governance, said any top-up in price by the district hinted at corruption.
He added there was a lack of transparency regarding the management of money at Section 20 schools.
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