The Tshwane metro has threatened to cut the power supply of a number of schools unless they agree to switch to pre-paid electricity systems.
“When they made this threat, I told them our account was fully paid and that the city had no legal right to stop supplying us with electricity,” said Hoërskool Menlopark deputy principal Manie Geldenhuys.
Rekord has determined that a number of schools had received the same threat by e-mail the past few weeks. The metro has not responded so far to Rekord‘s enquiries on the matter.
Some schools retaliated by threatening legal action against Tshwane metro, while at least one had a pre-paid meter installed earlier this month without its knowledge.
The pre-paid electricity system for schools comes with a hefty administration fee, ranging from, what Rekord could establish, between R8 000 to R11 500 per month – money the schools, many of them cash-strapped, had not budgeted for.
Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd principal Hennie du Toit said: “We have not even yet received details of the tariff structure of the pre-paid system or the purpose of the two levies charged.”
He told Rekord his school in the Moot area received a notice of the decision by email from Tshwane in mid-October.
“On 3 November, we received another email stating that a pre-paid meter had already been installed by 28 October,” he said, adding that Hoërskool Hendrik Verwoerd now had to pay its electricity account for October and pre pay for November. The school had also been charged two levies totaling R11 500.”
The school had not budgeted for the double payment, Du Toit said, adding that many schools would experience cash-flow problems as a result.
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