Impoverished, unemployed parents are being forced to pay “donations” of up to R1,500 to no-fee schools — on pain of their children being chased away from class or being refused access to their reports.
Desperate to keep their children in school, some parents are using vital grant money for the payments. Others are borrowing from loan sharks.
While the phenomenon is believed to occur across the country, it has been highlighted after bank statements for Ulwazi High School in Mdantsane, East London, were leaked to the Sunday Times. They were part of an investigation into lavish spending by the principal, Mihlali Makhilima, who has been suspended after allegedly spending school funds on eating out at upmarket restaurants, shopping and booze.
The school’s bank statements show multiple deposits listed as “tutor fees” and “donations”. Most are made under the names of pupils.
Parents from various other schools said the issue was common at all no-fee schools in the area.
“I went to cash-loan to borrow money because they were chasing my child away from school in January when the schools opened,” the parent of a grade 8 pupil at Khulani commercial high school in Mdantsane told the Sunday Times.
“They told me my child cannot come to school without the money. I had already bought a uniform for the child and she was crying. It was not right; it was an embarrassment. They wanted R600 for fees, that we pay once a year. I borrowed the money from mashonisa [a loan shark] because the grant money was already finished. I paid back the cash loan, around R1,200, when I received the grant.
“They say it’s a donation, but my child was dismissed from school because I had not paid. I cannot do anything about it because I want my child to be educated. I was told to pay the money in the school’s bank account.”
Parents told the Sunday Times this week that schools classify the payments as “voluntary donations”, “registration fees”, “caretaker fees” or “security guard fees”.
Equal Education Law Centre attorney Pila-sande Mkuzo said: “It definitely happens nationally, but we have seen quite a high number of [parents] coming into our law clinic in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and the Western Cape.
These schools are categorised as no-fee-paying schools, meaning that parents are not supposed to be charged fees. The children in that school are subsidised by the government
— Pila-sande Mkuzo, Equal Education Law Centre
“These schools are categorised as no fee-paying schools, meaning that parents are not supposed to be charged fees. The children in those schools are subsidised by the government.”
Mkuzo said amounts paid ranged between R150 and R1,500.
“It really depends on the context of the province. The Eastern Cape is more rural ... So the monies are a bit lower. You are looking at anything between R150 and R350. But in your more urban areas, like the Western Cape and Gauteng, you are looking at anything between R500 and R1,500,” she said.
“We do get these cases often, particularly at the beginning of the year as schools open, and around June and November, when the Schools will refuse to give the learners their reports on the basis of outstanding donations or fees.”
She said no-fee schools — quintile one, two and three schools — were underfunded by the state.
“It’s one of the reasons why they do what they are doing. Schools find that they are having to close that financial gap due to the department either not paying or not paying on time, or the funds just not being sufficient.
“How they do that is to ask for donations. But instead of allowing them to be voluntary, they make them compulsory.”
Some families in Mdantsane told the Sunday Times there were additional annual payments for “security guard fees” of about R150.
The Ulwazi school bank statements seen by the Sunday Times show cash deposits of R350 and R450 into the school’s account between December and January. Throughout the year the statements show cash deposits of R300. At least two cash deposits are listed as fees.
The Sunday Times has seen a letter addressed to 2026 grade 8 parents, signed by Makhilima, which states: “We are asking for a donation of R450 and deposit it in the account number below before November 15 2025. Return the slip together with a ream of Typek photocopying paper, 500 sheets. Parent, know that these papers are submitted once a quarter.”
The letter directs parents to use their children’s names and surnames as the reference when they make the payment.
At Ulwazi, another parent said: “They call it voluntary, but you must pay about R400 once off. The principal says it’s for cleaning materials. But if you don’t pay, your child won’t be accepted. You pay in December and bring proof of payment and Typek when schools open. The principal says it was agreed by the school government body, so you cannot question it.”
A parent from Mzomhle high school, also in Mdantsane, said: “My child was deprived of stationery because I did not pay the R300 donation. This happened in January. I had to tell them that I will wait for my child’s grant to pay it. I had to raise money to pay it. They only gave my child stationery after I paid the R300.”
A parent from another school in the area, Sikhulule Secondary, said: “I pay R350 per year, R100 for the caretaker and R250 for school fees. Then my child must bring Typek paper in January. If there’s a shortage, we have to apologise and promise when we will buy it.”
A woman with four grandchildren in various no-fee schools in Mdantsane said: “I pay school fees for all of them every year. At Khulani my grandchild started grade 8 last year and I paid R650, Mzoxolo R150 for the security guard, and R200 for school fees. I am unemployed and not even a pensioner. The R650 is from their grant money.
“But one of my daughters pays for her child at Ulwazi. This is not right, because they get chased away from school if the money is not paid. I also borrow money so that it can be paid.”
Eastern Cape DA shadow MEC for Education, Horatio Hendricks, said the South African Schools Act was clear - no child may be denied education because of an inability to pay.
He said that every year the DA was flooded with complaints from parents whose children’s reports had been withheld over unpaid charges.
Ulwazi school governing body chair Siyabonga Stompi Ncanywa said: “There are no fees that are being paid. The parents just make donations that they have agreed on. So, I understand the R350 or R300 are for tutors for grade 12 learners. So, those parents contribute monthly. The R400 that you are talking about is the contribution that is made by parents also.”
Ncanywa said if a pupil was barred from entering the school, parents had the right to report this to the education department.
“Remember this community is an indigent community. We know that most parents are not working, so we can never subject them to that, saying their learners cannot enter the school,” he said.
“If a person does not have it, they will arrange and pay when they have it.”
Eastern Cape education spokesperson Mali Mtima said the department was investigating the “serious allegations” against the schools and would only be able to respond next week.
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