Note to editors: Please find English soundbite by Michael Waters MPL.
Gauteng Provincial Government, led by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, has chosen to prioritise paying for the failed national e-toll system to the value of R9.3 billion, with more money to be paid this year, while learners are left to bear the consequences of severe budget cuts, mounting municipal debt and electricity disconnections at schools. This misplaced priority comes at the expense of quality education and the future of Gauteng’s children.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) rejects this approach and reiterates our call for the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) to reverse the 64% budget cuts to schools, compromising the education of our children.
This follows an admission by the Gauteng Education MEC, Lebohang Maile, in a response to an oral question posed by the DA in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. When pressed about the budget cuts, Maile noted that the province’s finances have been placed under strain by the decision to assume responsibility for e-toll debt.
This is ridiculous because the e-toll scheme was a national project, not a Gauteng project. Yet, Premier Lesufi caved in and has already committed more than R16 billion of Gauteng taxpayers’ money to pay for something that residents never asked for, never accepted and never agreed to.
The consequences of that disastrous decision are now felt in classrooms across Gauteng. While billions are paying off e-tolls, schools are told there is no money to prevent a 64% reduction in school subsidies, keep pace with rising municipal tariffs and save them from drowning in debt.
Lesufi’s government has chosen to deplete provincial finances to clean up the e-toll mess it created. The result is that parents are increasingly expected to pay more in school fees while receiving less in return.
But why are Gauteng’s children paying the price for the ANC’s failed e-toll scheme? Why are school principals forced to choose between educational priorities and municipal accounts, because government funding no longer covers the actual cost of providing basic services?
The GDE itself has admitted that there is a misalignment between municipal costs and the funding allocated to schools. In other words, the government knows the numbers do not add up. Yet, instead of fixing the problem, it has chosen to cut school budgets while paying the e-tolls debt.
The DA is the only party committed to investing in the education of our learners, not in failed projects doomed from the start. A DA-led Gauteng government would immediately halt any additional funding for the e-toll debt and reverse the school budget cuts to ensure that all learners receive the level of education they deserve.