THE majority of the KwaZulu-Natal departments will lose a combined total of almost a billion rands, which the provincial government diverted to provincial education to fund the operation of struggling schools.

Only the health and social development, which are together with education, classified as frontline departments, have been spared from losing part of their budget.

The no-fee schools have since 2022 struggled to operate as a result of government’s budget cuts and austerity measures.  

The decision to allocate an additional R900 million to education came after a series of meetings between Premier Thami Ntuli, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the National Teachers Union (NATU), who later engaged Finance MEC Francois Rodgers.

Ntuli’s spokesperson, Bongani Gina, said that after the meeting with the unions, Ntuli expressed the urgent need to resolve the long-standing financial constraints affecting the provincial Department of Education.

“The Premier directed Treasury to prioritise the reallocation of R900 million within the provincial budget. 

“The reprioritisation will involve sourcing funds from across departments to restore the functionality of schools by ensuring they are adequately resourced to operate effectively,” said Gina.

Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza described the additional allocation as a victory for no-fee schools as the past three years have been struggling to function.

“The Premier appreciated SADTU’s presentation and indicated that it provided him with a broader understanding of the challenges facing the Department of Education,” said Caluza.

However, she said this additional allocation was still not enough because the schools were owed money that was not paid to them last year.  

It was the government’s responsibility to fund the no-fee schools with R955 for each learner per year. 

Caluza said the department was supposed to pay 60%  of the R955 in May or June, while another 40% was supposed to be paid towards the end of the year to assist the school in preparing for the beginning of the next school calendar.  

However, the government could not pay the schools because of the lack of funds, a situation that left many schools unable to function adequately.

She said the department had even failed to pay the R955 in monthly installments. 

“Which is why there are still schools owed for last year’s fees” said Caluza.

She said this had left the school principals with the responsibility of using their own money to keep the school functioning. 

“It has become the responsibility of principals to pay from their pockets for the running of the schools, which is unfair. 

“That is why you find that the schools would be out of electricity because they cannot pay the electricity bills,” said Caluza.

She said that while principals would use their money to buy printing papers and other material required for teaching, the schools were no longer able to participate in sports and music competitions because there was no money. 

“Even teachers find it very difficult to attend workshops and carry out their teaching duties. 

“Principals would complain about running out of money, which led to quarrels within their families due to their inability to meet family responsibilities. 

“If you are a principal, everyone in school is looking up to you to provide when teachers run out of teaching resources, which forces the principal to use their money whenever the department fails to pay,” she said. 

Caluza said in 2023 and late last year, Sadtu marched and picketed as principals were saying, “we don’t know how learners are going to write exams because there were not printing machines and papers.”

“SADTU views this development as a major victory for our schools and for our members who braved freezing conditions in the picket lines to fight for a just cause,” said Caluza.

Finance MEC Francois Rodgers confirmed that health, education, and social development budgets will not be affected by this. 

“This is going to come from all of the other departments’ cash flow because we are not given our budget in advance from the national treasury, but it’s being given to us in tranches over the years.

“This is a cash flow challenge, and this is how we are going to manage it and other departments would have to fund it,” said Rodgers. 

When asked if those departments that will lose part of their cash would suffer, Rodgers said, “I believe they would be fine.”   

bongani.hans@inl.co.za   

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