Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Michael Waters MPL.
· Gauteng spends R183 million annually to rent education district offices.
· MEC contradicted himself on available government-owned buildings.
· MEC must disclose vacant properties and supporting evidence.
Questions remain over the more than R183 million Gauteng spends every year renting privately owned buildings for ten education district offices, after Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo contradicted himself on the availability of government-owned buildings that could potentially reduce this massive rental bill.
Responding to questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 08 September 2026 in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL), the MEC claimed that no suitable government-owned buildings were available to accommodate any of the Gauteng Department of Education’s district offices.
The DA later requested the MEC to provide evidence supporting this claim and to reveal how many provincial buildings are either vacant or underutilised. However, instead of providing this information, the MEC has now admitted that the Department of Infrastructure Development and the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency are still conducting a needs analysis and accommodation assessment. This includes assessing the suitability of available government-owned properties.
See reply here, here and here.
This presents a clear contradiction and raises the question: how could the MEC assert that no suitable government-owned buildings were available when his own department is still evaluating whether such properties are appropriate?
A follow-up question specifically asked if unused or underutilised provincial buildings had been evaluated, when each evaluation took place, what the results were, and whether any of these buildings could house one or more education district offices. The MEC answered none of these questions; instead, reiterating that the assessment process is ongoing.
The DA calls on the MEC to immediately disclose the complete list of vacant and underutilised provincial properties and provide the evidence on which he based his 8 September statement. Gauteng taxpayers should not be expected to keep shelling out millions of rands each on private accommodation, particularly when the provincial government has yet to determine whether suitable government-owned buildings are available for use.
The DA will submit further written questions demanding that the MEC reconcile these contradictory statements and provide the assessments on which his original claim was supposedly based.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would audit all vacant and underutilised provincial properties and prioritise suitable government-owned buildings for education district offices before resorting to costly private rentals. Funds saved from unnecessary office rentals will be redirected to support schools, many of which are financially strained and struggling to meet learners’ needs.