At least 36 schools in Gauteng have had their electricity disconnected due to nonpayment, while more than a hundred others have been served with letters to cut them off.
Ekurhuleni metro municipality has sent notices to disconnect electricity to 138 schools, of which six have already been cut off, leaving pupils and teachers frustrated while school administrators are in a desperate search to raise funds to restore the lights.
At least 30 schools in Tshwane have had their power cut recently as they struggle to keep up with payments.
Boitumelong Secondary School in Tembisa, which was once positioned as a school for the future when premier Panyaza Lesufi used it to launch the Big Switch On project aimed at digital learning, is also in the dark. At the time, Lesufi gave Boitumelong and six other schools state-of-the-art starboards, free Wi-Fi and tablets for learning.
However, the school’s learning methods have regressed as it has been plunged into darkness since the beginning of the month due to a R1m electricity debt with the Ekurhuleni metro. It now relies on solar power, which kicks in around 11am when the sun is out.
“This is a full ICT school, meaning we rely on smart boards. When there is no electricity in the mornings, teaching is heavily affected,” said an employee.
Pupils have been forced to return to traditional methods of learning, and now carry textbooks and use whiteboards in classrooms.
In his reply to the DA in the legislature, education MEC Matome Chiloane said that as of January 31, the department owed the City of Ekurhuleni just over R314m for electricity accounts at schools under its direct administration.
He said non-payment was due to a mismatch between government funding allocations and rising municipal tariffs, as well as limited financial capacity among school governing bodies in low-income communities.
Bedfordview Secondary School owes more than R6m. The school’s SGB member, James Kabe, said the debt has been accumulating since last year, with monthly electricity costs reaching about R300,000 in May last year.
Kabe said engagements with government officials only provided temporary relief. “We consulted Lesufi’s office in Boksburg in May and explained how this was affecting learning. We were told to make a payment for one month. We paid R100,000, and by July the electricity was restored ... but now the debt is sitting at over R5m.”
He said they could not collect enough money from school fees because some of the pupils come from disadvantaged families.
Though the school charges R10,000 per year, the inconsistent payments make it difficult to keep up with municipal costs.
KwaThema Skills School, which accommodates pupils with special education needs, was disconnected on Wednesday morning after it received a notice on March 5 that it owed about R1.98m.
Over time we became unable to keep up with the municipal bill. We had several meetings with the municipality on plans to repay, but we do not have sufficient to even make a payment arrangement.
— Laerskool Môrewag acting principal Juan Lerm
A school employee said they do not have the financial means to keep up with compounding municipal bills as they are wholly dependent on the government budget.
The school has diverted funds meant for food, stationery and other needs to their electricity bill.
The employee said the school was a no-fee-paying institution and even if they were to fundraise, most parents would not be able to pay.
Laerskool Môrewag in Brakpan owes just over R995,000 and was disconnected in January. The school’s acting principal, Juan Lerm, said though a fee-paying school, only 16% of the school population pays fees in full while the vast majority is on subsidies.
“Over time we became unable to keep up with the municipal bill. We had several meetings with the municipality on plans to repay, but we do not have sufficient to even make a payment arrangement.”
He said they were fundraising to move from the grid and work out a repayment plan. Lerm said from last month they went back to “chalk and talk”.
“We had to make use of blackboards and chalk in our classrooms instead of projectors. We kept the lights on using a generator, which cost us about R400 a day and R2,000 per week. It was tough and did impact the school, but we did all we could in the interest of our learners with dedicated staff, said Lerm.
Mahfouz Raffee, head of research at Equal Education ― a social enterprise that strives to ensure all learners have access to high-quality education ― said the situation was deeply concerning as schools were dependent on electricity to operate.
“The Norms and Standards for School Funding currently allocate R1,832 per learner at a no-fee school, but this has not kept pace with rising costs, particularly for water and electricity,” he said.
Sowetan
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