Mounting financial pressure on Gauteng schools has sparked fresh concern after a school in the Moot area informed parents that it had not yet received its expected May allocation from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE).

This raised fears over the growing financial crisis facing schools across the province.

The letter to parents warned that delays in departmental payments were placing severe strain on schools already battling rising municipal tariffs, operational costs and budget cuts. Schools rely heavily on these allocations to pay for day-to-day operations, including learner transport, hostel accommodation, municipal services, and educational resources.

The issue has drawn sharp criticism from the DA, which said schools are increasingly being pushed into financial distress while trying to keep teaching and learning functioning.

DA Member of the Provincial Legislature, Sergio dos Santos, told Rekord that the delays could have devastating consequences for vulnerable learners.

“When schools cannot pay service providers, the consequences are devastating for teaching and learning. Learners will struggle to attend school, hostels may close, further burdening parents to transport their children, and practical subjects requiring the necessary materials and equipment at a time when learners are getting ready for assessments is unacceptable,” said Dos Santos.

The DA said Gauteng schools were already operating under immense pressure caused by overcrowding, infrastructure backlogs and rising municipal debt.

Dos Santos said the latest delays worsened an already fragile situation.

“Delays in funding have a ripple effect on an already difficult situation and place schools in a position where they have to manage a crisis instead of focusing on teaching and learning.”

The concerns came days before Gauteng MEC for Education, Lebogang Maile, acknowledged during a provincial media briefing that Gauteng’s education system faced severe structural and financial challenges.

Maile revealed that the province’s learner population had grown from 1.4 million in 1995 to more than 2.8 million in 2026, placing enormous strain on infrastructure and school budgets.

The provincial government also disclosed that schools owed municipalities about R583.9-million in outstanding debt, while schools owed Eskom more than R6.3-million. In Pretoria, the debt to the metro alone is R51.7-million.

Maile admitted that rising municipal tariffs had outpaced allocations provided to schools and confirmed that the province was reviewing its decentralisation model, which shifted responsibility for municipal accounts to individual schools and governing bodies.

The DA said the crisis confirmed longstanding warnings that schools were being left to absorb escalating electricity, water, sanitation, and operational costs without adequate support.

“The GDE’s admission that rising municipal tariffs outpace school allocations confirms the DA’s longstanding warning that the department’s school budget cuts are negatively affecting schools,” Dos Santos said.

He added that no-fee and lower-income schools had been hit hardest, with some school governing bodies focusing more on financial survival than education.

“The DA has consistently raised concerns,” Dos Santos said. “At this stage, I do not believe the GDE has any sort of adequate contingency measures in place.”

The party now demanded urgent clarity from the department regarding the delayed payments, how many schools have been affected and when outstanding allocations will be paid.

The DA also announced that it would hand over a petition with more than 16 000 signatures to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature calling for the reversal of what it described as devastating budget cuts to Quintile 5 public schools on May 19 in Johannesburg.

Dos Santos said long-term reform was urgently needed to prevent schools from repeatedly facing financial crises.

“Schools should focus on teaching and learning and not face constant financial uncertainty because of delayed payments by the department,” he said.

He said the DA wanted improved financial planning, better oversight, contingency funding and stronger communication between government and schools to ensure future delays did not disrupt learning.

As schools continue to grapple with increasing operational costs, many parents and governing bodies fear that, unless urgent intervention takes place, more schools could soon find themselves on the brink of financial collapse.

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