{"id":98457,"date":"2025-06-18T11:03:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T09:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=98457"},"modified":"2025-06-18T11:03:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T09:03:04","slug":"gauteng-education-department-leaves-schools-drowning-in-debt-actionsa-demands-accountability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/gauteng-education-department-leaves-schools-drowning-in-debt-actionsa-demands-accountability\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauteng Education Department Leaves Schools Drowning in Debt, ActionSA Demands Accountability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/em>
\n15 June 2025<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Gauteng Education Dept Shifts R300m Utility Debt to Schools, Sparking Outrage and Fears of Service Cuts. \ud83d\udcf8 ActionSA<\/p><\/div>\n

ActionSA has sounded the alarm over what it describes as a \u201cdevastating betrayal\u201d by the Gauteng Department of Education, following revelations that over R300 million in utility debt has been transferred to already-overburdened schools, many of them in the poorest communities.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Radio Islam International,<\/em><\/a> ActionSA’s John Moodey condemned the decision, saying, \u201cThis is a clear example of the provincial government’s failure to prioritise the needs of learners, educators, and parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously, the department was responsible for footing the bill for utilities such as rates, water, and electricity. But under a new directive, schools are now expected to manage and pay for their own municipal services. \u201cMy concern is especially for quintile one schools, the non-fee-paying ones,\u201d Moodey stated. \u201cThese schools serve the most vulnerable communities. Their parents can barely afford food, and now they\u2019re being asked to pay for electricity and water at school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moodey raised concerns about outdated school quintile classifications, pointing out that demographic shifts have not been reflected in the current funding models. \u201cWhat was 20 years ago a quintile 3 or 4 school may now be functioning as a quintile 1 school,\u201d he explained, emphasising the added strain on school leadership and families.<\/p>\n

The impact of the policy change could be catastrophic. With unemployment rampant and households already squeezed, many schools face the real threat of losing access to basic services. \u201cIf schools can\u2019t pay, we could very well see Eskom and municipalities cutting them off,\u201d Moody warned. \u201cIt\u2019s not just electricity. It\u2019s also water, rates, and taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moodey criticised the department\u2019s financial mismanagement, alleging that the move is an attempt to avoid the disgrace of defaulting on creditors. \u201cThe MEC wants to dodge accountability. Now schools, which are already underfunded, are being forced to find money they don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The party is calling for the provincial government to immediately revisit the policy. \u201cThey must square off the debt, consult school management, and if a handover is necessary, it must be phased and properly budgeted,\u201d Moody stressed. \u201cDumping this on schools with no warning is deeply unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Governments should be caring,” Moodey concluded. “This isn\u2019t just mismanagement, it\u2019s neglect.”<\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Habib Bobat and John Moodey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 15 June 2025 ActionSA has sounded the alarm over what it describes as a \u201cdevastating betrayal\u201d by the Gauteng Department of Education, following revelations that over R300 million in utility debt has been transferred to already-overburdened schools, many of them in the poorest communities. In an interview with Radio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":98458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Gauteng-DBE-Debt-Crisis.jpg?fit=660%2C377&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pC1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-16 05:28:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}