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Exposed: Teacher runs garage at school

07/06/2010 00:00:00 ZWELIHLE SUKATI

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MATSAPHA – A Swazi National High School teacher has been for the past years operating a controversial ‘chop-shop’ within the school compound.

A chop-shop is where cars are stripped and or repaired. It is against the school’s policy to run such a business within the school compound.

Eric Matse, who is a Technical Drawing teacher, has been involved in a number of deals in cars.

When confronted by this reporter he confirmed operating what he called a garage at the teachers’ quarters.

"My business is to buy dented cars from South Africa, fix them, and then sell them to my customers. Not stolen or anything suspected to be stolen," Matse said justifying the legality of his business.

Swazi National High School Principal Alec Simelane says they have on many occassions called upon the teacher to stop operating the chop-shop at the school as it was illegal.

He said not only was his chop-shop operating illegally within the school’s residential premises but was also clouded with a lot of controversy. "Matse has been called many times to cease operating the ‘garage’ but would not listen. His reputation was once reported even to the office of the Manzini REO," said the principal. He went on saying that the issue of operating a chop-shop within the school was one of the issues which the school committee would be addressing – again, in their next meeting.

"At one point armed men came to the school threatening to gun him down in a deal that went wrong. He is a good teacher when it comes to the profession but he needs to sort out his private life which has an impact on the reputation of the school," the principal claimed.

...teacher now in a mess after client claims he cheated him

MATSAPHA – The teacher has found himself in a mess where one of his customers claims he cheated him in a car deal.

Bongani Gamedze claims the teacher Eric Matse took advantage of his inexperience in car dealing.

He bought a Toyota Tazz two years ago which he later discovered had been stolen after failing to obtain its documents from the owner. "I wanted to return the car but Matse requested that I sell him the suspected stolen car and offered to buy it for E16 000," said Gamedze who claims to have only received E4 000 from their deal with the teacher.

confronted

When the teacher was confronted with the allegations he told a different story. He said he was forced by circumstances to dissemble the car after having realised that iyashisa (suspected to be stolen).

"I had no option but to dissemble the car and sell its parts but I kept the doors which I used on my other Tazz," said Matse who claimed the car came to his ‘garage’ as surety for money loaned by Gamedze.

Changed

"He later changed his tune and told me he had lost his job and was having difficulty paying me my E7 500. It is then that he confessed that the car I was holding as surety had registration problems," he explained.

Matse said he had no option but to dissemble the car and sell some of its parts to scrap yards (recycling centers) to recover his money. "This is something I even confessed to the police and the case had to be struck off the roll in court because there was no evidence of the car as I made it clear that it was the only alternative at the time to recover my money," he said.