The Pretoria High Court has granted an interdict preventing the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality from disconnecting electricity at public schools due to non-payment, a move that advocates say protects learners from the consequences of government department failures.
AfriForum’s Alana Bailey said schools have been severely affected by repeated power outages linked to unpaid bills. “The schools have had a hard time,” Bailey said, noting that classrooms are left dark during storms, teaching apparatus cannot function, school administration is disrupted, security systems fail, and school feeding programs cannot provide children with hot meals.
Bailey explained that the payment dispute stems not from school electricity or water accounts, but from outstanding property rates. “The Department of Education, or actually the Department of Public Works, is responsible for the property rights and taxes, while the schools and school governing bodies are responsible for the services accounts like electricity and water,” she said.
According to Bailey, the schools her organisation has been in contact with are up to date with their electricity and water payments, but the department has failed to pay property rates to the municipality. “As a result, the school is now being punished for the mistakes of the department,” she said.
The outstanding rates amount to several million rand, and Bailey said more than 70 schools are on the blacklist for property rates in Tshwane.
The court order protects schools for the next six months. Bailey said she expects the municipality to urgently restore electricity and negotiate with the department to resolve the payment issues. AfriForum had a similar case in 2019, which resulted in a more lasting solution, but Bailey noted that “now we are back to square one.”
If the city fails to act, she said the organisation would approach the court again to seek protection for schools beyond the six-month period.