Gauteng schools face utility crisis as department transfers debt burden amid funding shortfalls

Daily Maverick

4 days ago

Gauteng's no-fee schools face water and electricity cutoffs after the provincial education department abruptly shifted responsibility for unpaid utility bills, leaving already-struggling communities to cover a staggering R300-million debt.
Many non-fee-paying schools across Gauteng are facing the threat of having their electricity and water cut off, as the Gauteng Department of Education abruptly reversed its 2024 decision to cover utility bills — offloading more than R300-million in historical municipal debt onto already under-resourced school communities.
Earlier this year, the department had committed to paying utility costs for non-fee-paying schools. But after failing to keep up with payments and racking up a massive arrears backlog, the department issued a directive in March stating that, from April 1, all schools would be solely responsible for managing and settling their own municipal accounts.
The result: schools have been saddled with old debts they had no role in incurring, with some receiving disconnection warnings for bills dating back more than 90 days — long before the policy shift took effect.
In Eldorado Park alone, 34 schools have already been affected. Across the province, in areas like Tshwane, Soweto, and Sedibeng, schools are reporting similar challenges as the scale of the crisis becomes clear.
Schools left in crisis
Charis Pistorius, a school governing body (SGB) member at Eldomaine Secondary School in Eldorado Park, described the situation as critical. She said some schools hadn't seen a single utility payment from the department for nearly two years, yet were now expected to shoulder full responsibility — including paying off arrears running into hundreds of thousands of rand.
She noted that schools had received only about 25% of their annual funding allocations so far. At her school, the math didn't add up: with a government allocation of R410,000 per year and a utility bill of R1-million, they were left with a R690,000 shortfall — with no way to close the gap.
Fundraising, she added, was nearly impossible in a community where unemployment hovered at 45%, and families were struggling to survive, let alone support school finances.
At Noordgesig High School, SGB member Ravern Martin said they had been ordered to pay more than R500,000 in overdue utility bills. While they managed to pay R27,000 last month, the expected bill for this month could exceed R700,000. Parts of the school remained without electricity, and the administration block had not been fully rehabilitated.
Martin stressed that this wasn't just about one school — it was about entire communities being left behind. He argued that if schools were being forced to take over utility responsibilities, the department should write off historical debt to give them a fair starting point.
Schools like Cosmo City Junior 1 and Heerengracht Primary had also received disconnection threats. Some were already operating without electricity or water — affecting teaching, hygiene, and safety.
A widening problem
According to DA Shadow MEC for Education, Sergio Isa Dos Santos, the problem was far more widespread than initially acknowledged. He said he began receiving complaints from schools across Tshwane, Soweto, and Sedibeng — all facing similar issues — prompting his office to submit urgent parliamentary questions to determine the full scale of the crisis.
Dos Santos said the Gauteng Education Department improperly invoked Section 21(1)(d) of the South African Schools Act to transfer financial responsibilities to schools without following legal procedures. The act requires that schools undergo a capacity assessment, receive training, and give informed consent before such a transfer can take place.
He said none of the affected schools reported receiving such support.
'The department seems to have simply offloaded this burden without due process,' he said.
Dos Santos painted a dire picture of the financial toll. Some schools now owed as much as R4.7-million. Many of the outstanding bills were marked '90+ days overdue', reflecting more than three months of non-payment before the schools were even made responsible.
'The reality is that under-resourced schools are being forced to take on massive debts they didn't create,' he said. 'It's completely unjust.'
Impact on learners
The consequences are already being felt in the classroom. Some schools lack running water and electricity, which is especially disruptive during exam periods. Learners are sitting in dark classrooms, unable to use smartboards, flush toilets, or even see what they're writing.
Dos Santos warned that the breakdown of basic services directly undermined education, particularly in communities that were already disadvantaged. He added that the department had not explained why utility bills went unpaid in the first place. In some cases, schools reported abnormally high charges during school holidays, raising concerns about incorrect meter readings or billing errors. Yet, Dos Santos said there was no evidence the department had engaged municipalities to dispute charges or request corrections.
No clear answers from the department
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane acknowledged ongoing issues with municipal payments across the province, and that they had made a commitment to clear outstanding municipal accounts for schools.
He said the department was working to assist non-fee-paying schools with clearing arrears at a head office level, but insisted that fee-paying schools must cover their own municipal costs.
Chiloane emphasised that there was no intention to harm schools, and that the fee-paying designation was a joint decision between school management and SGBs. Once classified as such, these schools were expected to use school fees to supplement government funding.
In response to questions from Daily Maverick, the department issued a generic press statement on 28 May 2025 — making no mention of the utilities crisis. Instead, it focused on the delayed opening of Tanganani Primary School in Diepsloot, citing community protests and construction delays.
The statement detailed interim solutions at that school, including mobile toilets and water tankers — but offered nothing on the broader issue of disconnections, unpaid bills, or the fate of schools now expected to operate without basic services. DM