Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Michael Waters MPL.
Liverpool Secondary School in Actonville, Benoni, has been plunged into darkness since 23 April 2026, exposing the Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) failure to support schools financially and disrupting teaching and learning. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for accountability, urging the Public Protector to investigate this ongoing crisis plaguing our education system.
During the recent oversight inspection at Liverpool Secondary School, the DA found that, despite repeated denials from the GDE, 1,172 learners are being taught in the dark. Teachers are struggling to print learning and teaching materials, and nine smartboards are unusable because electricity has been cut. With examinations starting on 20 May, the school is clearly ill-equipped to cope.
To make matters worse, the water pressure at the school has dropped to a trickle, and learners queue to use basic sanitation facilities. Financially, the school is on the brink of collapse, facing a monthly municipal bill of R90,000, an outstanding debt of R495,000, and a 64% budget cut, from R1.13 million to R372,645.
With fee collection below 40%, the school cannot survive. The DA has repeatedly cautioned the department about shifting its financial responsibility to schools ill-equipped to handle this function. However, GDE has chosen to ignore the warnings, relying instead on denial, excuses, and ridiculous suggestions that schools should “fundraise” to raise funds.
Such talk and the ongoing failure to address these disconnections, which the Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, admits have persisted since 2024, indicate that the Premier Panyaza Lesufi-led government has failed to prioritise our learners’ education. Instead of acting to resolve the crisis, they have chosen to deny it, attack those seeking solutions, including the DA, and wish the problem away.
This cannot continue. Lesufi’s government must account for every lesson missed due to electricity cuts and for denying our learners access to basic sanitation at Liverpool Secondary and many other schools subjected to cuts due to unpaid utility bills.
Strong financial management and accountable leadership are essential to fix Gauteng’s education crisis, and the DA is the only party that can deliver for the benefit of every learner in Gauteng.