LUXURY RENTALS: Gauteng education spends R230m a year on offices as schools face subsidy cuts
While public schools across the province face severe budget cuts and massive shortfalls in fee collections, the provincial education department continues to spend hundreds of millions of rand leasing office space from private landlords.
The Gauteng Department of Education in South Africa spends more than R230-million annually on rented district offices, despite public schools across the province facing severe budget cuts and massive shortfalls in fee collections. This expenditure, revealed in a written reply to questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA), involves leasing buildings owned by private landlords for the department's district offices. Ten of the department's 15 district offices are located in privately owned buildings.
The total annual cost of leasing and running these privately occupied district offices is over R230-million, before security, cleaning, and maintenance costs are added. The Gauteng MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation, Lebogang Maile, confirmed the figures in response to questions from the DA.
DA Gauteng education spokesperson Michael Waters criticized the province for continuing to spend hundreds of millions of rand on office rentals while claiming a lack of funds. He argued that the money spent on leased office space could be better utilized to support schools, teachers, and learners. The reply also stated that no rental expenditure is incurred in respect of government-owned buildings, and the Gauteng Department of Education bears responsibility for rental payments relating to leased district office accommodation.
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