By Levy Masiteng
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is demanding that the Gauteng education department immediately suspends its decision to make no-fee-paying schools responsible for paying their utility bills and historical debt.
This comes after the department formally transferred the responsibility of paying municipal accounts back to schools in Eldorado Park on Tuesday.
According to the department, the transfer is in line with the South African Schools Act.
DA provincial education spokesperson Sergio Isa Dos Santos said the decision was “reckless and absurd” because the GDE department has failed to pay these bills, leading to disconnection notices for some schools.
He said the party was concerned that these schools, which served underprivileged communities, could not afford to pay these utility bills and would be severely impacted.
“Learners will be taught in dark classrooms and not have water due to the failure of these schools to pay municipal accounts and historical debt.”
During an oversight inspection at Eldorado Park schools, the DA discovered that 34 non-fee-paying schools were compelled to pay municipal debts without proper consultation, assessment and training.
Dos Santos said letters issued to schools on 18 March 2025 stated that, from 1 April 2025, schools would be responsible for the timely payment of municipal services and supplementing allocated funds through fundraising.
This included Willow Crescent Secondary School, which received a monthly allocation of R53,000, but has a municipal debt exceeding R638,000.
Another school, Ernest W. Hobbs Primary, has outstanding debt of over R4.7 million.
Dos Santos said the decision was not financial management, but “financial dumping”.
In response, the department said that the six fee-paying schools in Eldorado Park were formally informed in 2023 that the responsibility would be returned to them, and the nine no-fee schools received similar notification this year.
The department took over these responsibilities in April 2024 due to concerns over “poor financial management” by some school governing bodies (SGBs), but has since transferred the responsibility back to the schools.
Dos Santos said he had submitted urgent questions to education MEC Matome Chiloane in the Gauteng legislature to determine why schools were not consulted.
However, the department said that legally the HOD may withdraw or reinstate such functions without consultation.
“Section 21 of the Schools Act allows for schools to apply for additional functions; it does not require consultation before such functions are reinstated or withdrawn,” the department said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the department has encouraged schools to strengthen their financial management strategies and raise additional funds under Section 36 of the Act to ensure they can meet operational obligations.
Dos Santos said the DA would work closely with municipalities to ensure schools were not disconnected or penalised over municipal debt.
INSIDE EDUCATION
