Note to Editors: Please note Sakhile Mngadi, MPL sound bites in English and isiZulu
As schools across KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) reopen this week, many do so under conditions that lay bare the deep dysfunction within the provincial education system.
This, as KZN’s Department of Education (KZN DoE) has failed to pay the final tranche of Norms and Standards allocations to most schools, leaving principals scrambling to keep doors open without the funds required to operate. The failure is compounded by the DoE’s inability to deliver stationery to nearly half of all schools in the province, as well as its failure to pay some National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) service providers.
The result is unacceptable: schools reopening without money to function, without learning materials for learners and, in some cases, without food to feed children on their first day back.
These realities stand in sharp contrast to the celebratory mood following the announcement of the 2025 matric results. While these results should be acknowledged, they must not be used to obscure the truth. They are a testament to the resilience of learners, teachers, and school-based staff, achieved – despite a system that is increasingly unable to support them. KZN’s education system remains in tatters, and urgent questions can no longer be deferred.
The DA rejects the narrative advanced by KZN’s DoE that its financial crisis is the result of failures by Provincial Treasury. This claim is misleading.
The current crisis is the product of years of mismanagement and poor financial governance within the department itself. For too long, the DoE entered into unfunded contractual commitments, accumulating billions of rands in accruals. These practices have now been halted under the provincial financial recovery plan, exposing the true state of the department’s finances.
As a responsible partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the DA will continue to monitor the situation closely and demand accountability. Our learners cannot be expected to succeed in a system that repeatedly fails to meet its most basic obligations.