Principal blew R1M meant for hungry kids on booze and fine dining
A principal in the Eastern Cape turned school funds into his personal party budget while the kids went hungry.
Meet Mihlali Makhalima, the head of Ulwazi High School in Mdantsane, East London - a no-fee school where kids depend on state funds for meals, learning materials, and basic maintenance.
Makhalima had a glowing reputation for improving matric results, but according to an explosive investigation by the provincial Department of Education, not all was as it seemed.
His “improvement strategy” seems to have involved a steady diet of fine dining, luxury lounges, and petrol station swipe sessions.
How does this happen?
The Sunday Times uncovered that in just 16 months, Makhalima allegedly blew more than R1 million of school funds meant for learners on what reads like a Bachelor’s party that never ended.
- R250,000 at fancy restaurants like Grazia Fine Food & Wine and La Grato.
- R450,000 in cash withdrawals with no receipts, no explanations, and definitely no textbooks.
- R226,000 withdrawn at tills, apparently to fund “educational excursions” to Hungry Lion, KFC, Shoprite, Pep Stores, and liquor outlets.
That’s not all though. Nearly R8,000 went directly to booze.
Although in his defence, he says “the liquor store is a butchery and the receipt was there to show that it was meat.”
Makhalima further defended his weekly fast food purchases as food for panel members of the disciplinary committee.
“Those meetings are from 10am until 6pm when there are a number of cases. So, you find many KFC on Tuesdays because the disciplinary committee takes place then.”
However, several principals at other surrounding schools say it’s highly unlikely to have disciplinary hearings every week.
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Meanwhile, back at the school…
While the debit card was working overtime, learners were left wondering where their meals had gone.
According to pupils, the school menu promised breakfast and a cooked lunch with fruit. The reality?
“We eat once a day. There’s no cereal, no fruit. Sometimes it’s just samp and chicken liver if we’re lucky,” one student said.
The menu boasted fish, pasta, fruit, and variety, but the kids got phuthu and disappointment instead.
The investigation also suggests that some teachers and School Governing Body (SGB) members may have shared in the spoils, receiving cash, fuel, and food from the school’s bank account.
This is a sobering reminder of how easily one person’s bad decisions can spiral into a system of silent complicity.
Although, there’s a much bigger question that lingers over this entire situation.
How does a principal in charge of an impoverished school manage to misdirect over a million rand without anyone noticing sooner?
It’s a painful story that highlights how mismanagement in education doesn’t just break trust, it literally takes food out of children’s mouths.
While the higher ups were feasting at fine restaurants, kids in need were sitting in classrooms with empty stomachs.
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