Tshwane cuts power and water to Basic Education HQ amid R104m school debt; reconnection ordered

The City of Tshwane ordered the disconnection of electricity and water to the national Department of Basic Education (DBE) head office in Pretoria on Thursday morning, citing unpaid municipal accounts linked to public schools that the city says owe a combined R104 million.

Who was affected and why

The city said the combined debt related to approximately 200 public schools within the metro. Executive Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya confirmed the disconnection and said:

“Today’s disconnection was born out of frustration and desperation following the continued escalation of unpaid municipal debt owed by public schools within Tshwane.”

DBE says its own account was not in arrears

The DBE responded that its municipal account with the City of Tshwane is not owing a single cent and carried a credit balance. Minister Siviwe Gwarube was quoted:

“I can confirm that the national Department of Basic Education’s account with the City of Tshwane is not owing a single cent. There was no legal basis for the disconnection.”

Gwarube also said:

“Whatever dispute the City of Tshwane may have with the relevant provincial authorities, it cannot be right to disconnect services to the national Department of Basic Education when the department’s own account is in good standing.”

The department said the debt belonged to public schools under the Gauteng Department of Education and added:

“The DBE does not run schools. This is the function of the provinces. The city knew that this was not our debt. But disconnected us anyway.”

City admits error but stresses unresolved debt

The City Manager later admitted the disconnection had been made in error, saying the city had intended to target district offices linked to the indebted schools rather than the DBE national head office. Moya acknowledged a High Court judgment prohibiting the direct disconnection of schools but said the ruling had left municipalities with limited mechanisms to recover outstanding amounts.

While ordering that services to the DBE head office on Struben Street be restored by Friday morning, Moya said:

“While the administration of public schools rests with provincial education departments, the national Department of Basic Education cannot simply absolve itself of responsibility.”

Immediate operational and legal response

During the outage the DBE operated on backup generators and reserve water supplies. The department warned that running generators alone costs tens of thousands of rands for every full day the electricity remained off.

The DBE briefed the Office of the State Attorney and said it was preparing legal steps should services not be restored urgently. The Director-General and Chief Financial Officer engaged directly with the City Manager, and Gwarube contacted the Executive Mayor personally to resolve the matter.

The City has instructed its administration to explore lawful avenues to compel the relevant education authorities to settle the outstanding debt, saying:

“The City of Tshwane cannot continue providing municipal services indefinitely without payment.”

Status of reconnection

The mayor directed that services be restored on Friday morning, but it remained unclear at the time of reporting whether the reconnection had taken place.