Gauteng Department of Education owes R614 million to schools in the province

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) currently owes R614 million to schools in the province, which was supposed to be paid out in May 2026.

This was revealed by the Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, in response to a parliamentary question from National Assembly Member Laetitia Arries.

Arries asked the Minister to disclose the number of provincial departments that had failed to transfer the allocated funds to schools, as well as the total amount currently owed.

She also asked what disciplinary measures had been taken to hold the department officials responsible and recover any funds lost through negligence or financial misconduct.

In her response, the Minister revealed that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) had identified four provincial education departments that had made partial or late transfers.

The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng failed to fully allocate funds for the first 2026 school allocation transfer by the given date.

Under the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF), these funds were due to be transferred by 15 May 2026.

“This does not mean that transfers remained outstanding in all four provinces at the time of this response,” Gwarube said.

“The Gauteng Department of Education is currently the only provincial education department that has not transferred the full amount of funding due to schools.”

According to Gwarube, the GDE was required to transfer R1.532 billion to schools by May 2026. Of this amount, R918 million had been transferred to date.

This leaves an outstanding balance of R614 million yet to be transferred to Gauteng schools, equivalent to 40% of the total amount due.

“These figures relate to Gauteng and reflect the position reported to the national Department,” Gwarube said.

“They should not be interpreted as a verified aggregate of outstanding transfers across all provinces.”

The reason for the delay

According to Gwarube, the Department of Basic Education attributed the delayed transfers in Gauteng to cash-flow constraints at the GDE.

This corroborated claims made by GDE members during a meeting with the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Education Portfolio Committee earlier this year.

Gauteng Finance MEC Nkululeko Dunga told TimesLIVE in September that the Gauteng Provincial Treasury had advised the GDE to delay payments to schools.

“Responsibility for the administration of provincial education departments rests with the relevant provincial authorities,” Gwarube said.

“Where misconduct is suspected or established, the responsible authorities must take appropriate action in accordance with the applicable legislation and procedures.”

These responsibilities, Gwarube said, included implementing applicable financial management and disciplinary measures.

She said the information provided to her department did not identify any specific investigations, disciplinary proceedings, or consequence management against officials involved in the transfer delays.

Gwarube said the DBE would continue to monitor provincial compliance with the NNSSF and would engage further with provincial treasuries and education departments.

Her department also advised that it had not received information on funds lost due to negligence or financial mismanagement related to the delayed transfers.

Gwarube said no specific recovery proceedings regarding established financial losses had been reported to the DBE.

“Outstanding transfers should therefore not, on the information presently available, be characterised as funds established to have been lost or misappropriated,” Gwarube said.

“This does not diminish the obligation of provincial education departments to effect transfers properly due to schools. The DBE continues to monitor the settlement of outstanding allocations.”

The GDE said it planned to settle the outstanding balance of the May tranche in full before the second round of funding is due to be paid by 15 November.

Principals across Gauteng warned that if funding delays continued, staff contracts may not be renewed at the end of the year due to budgetary constraints.