KwaZulu-Natal Education Department plans to save R100 million by purchasing offices

IOL News

a day ago

KZN education MEC Sipho Hlomuka
Image: file picture
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has announced ambitious plans to own its own offices and save close to R100 million a year in rental costs.
The department revealed that it is renting about 22 buildings at a cost of approximately R120 million per year. These revelations are contained in its budget that details its cost drivers and how it aims to reduce these costs.
The department is facing a financial crisis and has recently been bailed out by the provincial government, which reappropriated close to R900 million from other departments to assist the departments of health and education in meeting some of their obligations.
Speaking on the cost drivers, MEC Sipho Hlomuka said Compensation of Employees (COE) takes up the largest part of the department's budget, accounting for close to 90%.
'Over the years, we have retained a pool of 90,057 educators, of which more than 86,000 are distributed to schools through Post Provisioning Norms (PPN) certificates. Due to several budget cuts implemented by the National Treasury and increased costs associated with employee salaries, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain this pool of teachers, as they are gradually becoming unaffordable. This situation has continued to worsen.
'We have always been upfront during our engagements and consultations with our education stakeholders, stating that maintaining the aforementioned pool is becoming unsustainable given the current circumstances,' said the MEC.
He stated, 'We have assessed our own expenditure and are implementing a robust cost reduction strategy to mitigate the impact of budget cuts on the sector. This includes evaluating our spending patterns, prioritising essential services, and exploring alternative funding sources to ensure that we can continue to provide quality education to our learners.'
Speaking on office accommodation, facilities, and provision of tools of trade, he said the department is in the process of reducing costs related to office facilities from where it conducts its business operations.
'There are 22 buildings that are leased by the Department through Public Works. The cost spent for the payment of rental towards leased buildings is projected at R120 million per annum.
'To counter this, the department has resolved to reduce these costs by either purchasing or constructing its own buildings and will use available land to achieve this. The aim is to save on the payment of increasing rental costs and other challenges associated with office rentals.
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'We have also reduced costs related to printing, travel and accommodation, and conferencing.'
He added that the department has adopted a phased approach for the rollout of capital ICT projects and procurement including the implementation of Smart Schools that use modern digital technology for the delivery of teaching and learning in all districts.
In this regard, 92 Smart Schools have been rolled out to date.
He said they were already seeing results when it comes to fleet management.
'To safeguard our fleet from theft and other forms of misuse, the department installed tracking devices on all its vehicles in 2021. This has helped in dealing with the misuse of state vehicles and monitoring the behaviour of users, while at the same time mitigating vehicle theft, thereby reducing costs for replacement.'
THE MERCURY