SEDIBENG.– The Gauteng Provincial Government is apparently spending more than R230m every year to rent and operate privately owned district offices for the Gauteng Department of Education.

According to Michael Waters, the DA’s Gauteng spokesperson for Education, this is while schools across the province face severe budget cuts, leaving them struggling to pay for basic electricity and water. Waters said that Infrastructure MEC Jacob Mamabolo revealed this information in a written reply in the provincial legislature.

This means taxpayers are spending more than R230m annually on just 10 district offices.

In the reply, seen by Sedibeng Ster, Mamabolo disclosed that 10 out of 15 district offices, which is 67%, are in private buildings. The department pays R15.27m every month in rent and an extra R47.2m a year for municipal services.

“This means taxpayers are spending more than R230m annually on just 10 district offices, before maintenance, security, cleaning, and other operating costs are even considered,” Waters pointed out. 

He questioned why the government uses expensive private leases instead of making better use of its own properties. These high rental costs come at a time when the education department has slashed budgets for Quintile 5 schools by 64%.

Many schools struggle to pay their municipal accounts.

As a result, many schools struggle to pay their municipal accounts and have even faced electricity disconnections, which disrupt teaching and learning.

“The DA is not questioning the need for district offices. Effective district offices are essential to supporting schools. What we are questioning is why the provincial government continues to pay hundreds of millions of rand on property leasing when government-owned buildings may be standing vacant or could potentially accommodate these offices.”

Waters ended that the Lesufi-led government cannot claim there is no money while spending millions on leasing office space.

“If the province’s finances are so constrained that it must slash school budgets, why does it continue to prioritise expensive office rentals over essential education funding?”

Meanwhile, staff at the GDE Sedibeng East District office in Vereeniging, located in the Sanlam Building at the corner of Joubert and Kruger Avenue, are reportedly refusing to move to a new building after the lease at the current building apparently expired sometime ago.

Workers have reportedly cited security and parking concerns regarding the new office space in the town centre.

When asked for comment, Madika Mofokeng, from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), requested that inquiries be sent to the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID).

“We acknowledge receipt of your email and will facilitate the referral of your inquiry to the relevant officials within the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development for the necessary attention,” said Zanele Mokotedi,” from the DID.