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By Johnathan Paoli
With over two million learners depending on the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Education Department and the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations looming, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has called for urgent collaboration between the national Basic Education Ministry and the provincial Education and Finance departments to address the escalating financial crisis in the province’s education sector.
Following an all-government meeting with KZN Premier Thami Ntuli and the provincial MECs for Education and Finance, the government emphasised the need for swift action, announcing the formation of a task team—chaired by the Premier—to seek solutions to severe budgetary pressures threatening school operations, the distribution of learning materials, and the upcoming NSC examinations.
“We have to resolve this; and get the department on its feet. It’s one of the provinces with the largest cohort of learners, educators and schools. Ultimately, we have to protect the system. Especially for those South Africans who don’t have an option to ‘opt out’ of what the government is meant to provide,” Gwarube said over social media.
The national delegation, which included Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule and Director-General Mathanzima Mweli, met with Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka, and Finance MEC Francois Rodgers, alongside senior officials from both provincial and national departments.
The engagement was framed as an “all-of-government” response to address urgent financial challenges and develop a recovery plan to safeguard the province’s education system.
KwaZulu-Natal, home to over two million learners and tens of thousands of educators and non-teaching staff, faces a multi-layered budgetary strain.
Rising personnel costs, historic accruals, and unfunded mandates have compounded pressures across the system, with schools in Quintile 1 to 3 areas, serving the most vulnerable learners, particularly at risk.
While these challenges mirror a broader national trend, the scale of KwaZulu-Natal’s system magnifies the urgency for immediate intervention.
During the discussions, it was noted that there are no existing legal or financial instruments that permit the Basic Education department to directly inject funds into a provincial department.
While a Section 100 intervention under the Constitution could theoretically be deployed, all parties agreed that such an approach would be undesirable.
Instead, the Provincial Treasury will continue supporting the Education department through existing Section 18 mechanisms under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), complemented by technical guidance and resource reprioritisation advice from the national government.
The meeting prioritised four critical areas for immediate intervention: safeguarding school transfers, particularly for the poorest learners; protecting the delivery of Learning and Teaching Support Materials (LTSM); ensuring a smooth and fair rollout of examinations; and securing scholar transport to maintain learner access in rural and underserved areas.
A premier-chaired rescue team will now coordinate recovery efforts in collaboration with the national department and the provincial treasury, driving implementation of a comprehensive financial recovery plan with speed and accountability.
Short-term measures agreed upon include releasing statutory allocations to schools to guarantee uninterrupted school nutrition, utilities, transport, and teaching services; clearing arrears owed to municipalities and service providers, including those involved in the National School Nutrition Programme; ring-fencing conditional grants for their intended purposes; and enforcing strict consequence management for officials responsible for financial mismanagement.
Longer-term measures will include payroll and post provisioning reform, verification of learners and employees to eliminate ghost posts, contract rationalisation to reduce inflated costs, and efficiency gains in procurement.
The provincial government has already advanced R900 million earlier this year to provide immediate relief, with further allocations to be secured through the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework to ensure sustainability.
The province aims to achieve savings of up to R1 billion per year through these reforms, alongside improved oversight and operational efficiency.
Gwarube commended the provincial leadership for their candid engagement and shared commitment to stabilising the education system, while Ntuli reaffirmed that quality education remains KwaZulu-Natal’s highest priority.
INSIDE EDUCATION