KZN Premier says he had no clue schools were having financial difficulties
DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli says he had no clue that schools in the province were unable to operate daily due to financial difficulties, and he has committed to turning the situation around.
Several schools in KZN have revealed that they can't function due to a lack of money.
Teacher unions NATU (National Teachers' Union) and SADTU (South African Democratic Teachers Union) have approached Ntuli's office about the issue.
They say the allocations are not meeting the norms and standards for school funding.
Ntuli says this will be resolved over the next few days.
The norms and standards for school funding provide a framework for how government funds should be allocated to public schools.
But with schools across the province pointing out they have not received what is due to them, teaching and learning have been disrupted.
Teacher unions and pupils at some schools have resorted to pickets.
But after meeting the union, Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli admitted this was news to him.
'I wasn't aware of the situation, that it was such bad.'
The premier says he will address the situation.
'As from next week we will be beginning to pay schools, in two weeks' time no school must be owed and going forward, I said for the norms and standards, the government must not owe schools.'
Ntuli has committed R900 million to be allocated to schools across KZN.
He says the money will be sourced from all other departments in the province.
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Eyewitness News
18 hours ago
- Eyewitness News
KZN Premier says he had no clue schools were having financial difficulties
DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli says he had no clue that schools in the province were unable to operate daily due to financial difficulties, and he has committed to turning the situation around. Several schools in KZN have revealed that they can't function due to a lack of money. Teacher unions NATU (National Teachers' Union) and SADTU (South African Democratic Teachers Union) have approached Ntuli's office about the issue. They say the allocations are not meeting the norms and standards for school funding. Ntuli says this will be resolved over the next few days. The norms and standards for school funding provide a framework for how government funds should be allocated to public schools. But with schools across the province pointing out they have not received what is due to them, teaching and learning have been disrupted. Teacher unions and pupils at some schools have resorted to pickets. But after meeting the union, Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli admitted this was news to him. 'I wasn't aware of the situation, that it was such bad.' The premier says he will address the situation. 'As from next week we will be beginning to pay schools, in two weeks' time no school must be owed and going forward, I said for the norms and standards, the government must not owe schools.' Ntuli has committed R900 million to be allocated to schools across KZN. He says the money will be sourced from all other departments in the province.
Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Daily Maverick
Drama, deals, disregard – how another 12,000 Nelson Mandela Bay ratepayers were denied a capital budget
In this second report in our series on wards in Nelson Mandela Bay receiving a zero capital budget, Ward 39 is a large residential area that includes suburbs and the peri-urban area of Theescombe. Some of its residents pay the highest rates in Nelson Mandela Bay, and yet its capital budget was reduced from R1.5m to nothing. When Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe joined the residents of Ward 39 at their integrated development plan meeting, she presented them with the 2024 budget instead of the 2025/6 budget. In that 2024 budget, the ward had a capital budget of R1.5-million – but ward councillor Margaret de Andrade and her ward committee soon pointed out to Lobishe that she was presenting the wrong budget. 'I told her there is a zero under capital budget in the new budget,' De Andrade said. 'We received nothing but R100,000 for a humanitarian fund that is almost impossible to access.' 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'Councillors are delaying the approval of the budget because we want to see the capital budgets in print before we vote.' Municipality's response Municipal director of communications Sithembiso Soyaya said a mistake had been made in presenting the wrong budget to Ward 39 residents. 'During engagements in Ward 39, it was brought to the municipality's attention that the previous year's budget figures may have been presented during an initial consultation session. This matter is currently under internal review, within the relevant framework, and corrective measures will be implemented to ensure such administrative oversights do not recur. 'The concern has been noted and considered during the revision of the draft budget, and the updated, corrected figures should be reflected in the final 2025/26 budget being presented to Council on Thursday. 'The municipality remains committed to ensuring that communities receive accurate, up-to-date information in all budget consultation processes. 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IOL News
2 days ago
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South African ministers spend over R200 million on travel in a time of crisis
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