Note to Editors: Attached please find a soundbite in English from DA MPL, Sergio Isa Dos Santos here.
Teaching and learning in Eldorado Park schools are again under threat due to electricity disconnections, as the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) continues to shift responsibility onto schools while failing to provide adequate financial support. The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on Gauteng Education MEC Lebohang Maile to urgently intervene to restore services and prevent further disruptions.
The GDE now claims that funds were allocated to schools in November 2025 to settle municipal accounts, but this does not resolve the underlying problem. Transferring municipal service responsibilities to schools under Section 21(1)(d) of the South African Schools Act, without matching allocations to actual utility costs, imposes an obligation without financial support. The result is predictable: schools fall deeper into debt, and ultimately, it is learners who pay the price.
The allocations provided to schools are not sufficient to cover the rising cost of municipal services. Escalating tariffs, compounded in some cases by incorrectly zoned stands and suspected billing inaccuracies, further inflate accounts, placing schools under sustained financial strain. As a result, schools are left with growing shortfalls that they are neither equipped nor resourced to manage, placing them at risk of falling further into arrears.
This is especially concerning for no-fee schools like Heerengracht Primary and Kliptown Primary, which serve vulnerable communities and lack the funds to supplement their allocations. Schools in Eldorado Park face significant socio-economic challenges and expecting them to handle rising municipal costs with limited funding is deeply unfair.
The DA has consistently warned since early 2025 that this approach would lead to the crisis we are seeing across the province. Despite these warnings, the department has persisted with a deeply flawed model that shifts its financial obligations onto schools while attempting to deflect accountability.
The DA has already written to the Gauteng Department of Education MEC, urging the department to engage all municipalities as a matter of urgency to restore services where disconnections have occurred and to prevent any further cuts. We are currently awaiting decisive action from the department following this action step.
The DA is the only party that would be proactive in resolving the municipal services crisis by establishing an intergovernmental committee to monitor school debt, flag risks early, and work with municipalities to resolve billing disputes or payment challenges before service disruption. Schools should be supported, not set up to fail.