The Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE) failure to meet the 15 May deadline for school subsidy payments has sparked criticism from the DA, which warned that schools are being pushed deeper into financial crisis.
On Wednesday, DA Gauteng shadow MEC for education Sergio Isa Dos Santos said the department’s delay in paying subsidies had left schools struggling to cover operational costs, including municipal services, maintenance and learning materials.
Under the NNSSF regulations, schools are meant to receive 50% of their subsidies on or before 15 May, with the remaining 50% due by 15 November.
The department has acknowledged the delays and committed to beginning disbursements in June.
DA warns of worsening crisis
Dos Santos said the failure to meet the payment deadline would place additional pressure on already under-resourced schools.
“By missing the deadline, the department has once again abandoned schools already facing a deepening financial crisis,” he said.
He warned that schools risked losing valuable teaching time because of possible power outages and water shortages linked to unpaid municipal accounts.
“Delayed subsidy payments may also force parents to absorb costs that schools can no longer afford and push communities to react to the government’s neglect,” Dos Santos added.
The DA also linked the latest delays to an earlier internal GDE memorandum sent to schools, which reportedly stated that infrastructure maintenance funds for the 2025/26 financial year had already been depleted.
Dos Santos described the delay as “not a minor administrative delay” but part of “a persistent pattern of financial mismanagement within this department”.
“For years, the GDE has trapped schools in a cycle of late payments, funding uncertainty, and financial instability, pushing many schools to the brink of collapse,” he said.
The party said it would table questions to determine why the deadline was missed and engage Gauteng education MEC Lebogang Maile on strengthening cooperation between the department, municipalities and other stakeholders.
GDE apologises for delays
On 23 May, the GDE acknowledged that subsidies expected to be deposited into school accounts by 15 May had been delayed.
“Firstly, we would like to express our apologies to all schools and stakeholders of Gauteng for the delays in the release of funds schools are entitled to,” Maile said.
“We want to assure the public and all stakeholders that the funds are there and schools will start accessing them from the start of June.”
According to the department, the subsidies cover operational expenses such as learning and teaching support materials, municipal services, maintenance and administrative costs.
The GDE said the funding was also intended to promote proper school governance and address inequalities in historically underfunded public schools.
