NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION 368
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 12/09/2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 27/2011)
Mrs E C van Lingen (DA-EC) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) Whether any hostels had to close until August 2011 as a result
of outstanding accounts for municipal services in the Eastern
Cape; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a)
how many, (b) which hostels, (c) which schools were affected,
(d) what was the outstanding amount in each case and (e) to
which municipalities were the monies owed;
(2) (a) what intervention has her department made to have these
accounts paid, (b) when will the affected hostels be re-opened
and (c) who is responsible for the delay in payment of these
outstanding accounts;
(3) whether any action will be taken against responsible persons in
this regard; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details;
(4) whether she will request that payments of the municipal accounts
of the hostels be directly linked to certain schools (names
furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant
details? CW468E
Answer
1) (a)(b)(c)(d)(e) Information received from the Eastern Cape
Department of Education is that two hostels were temporarily
closed and two schools were affected, they are Willowmore
Secondary and Willowmore Primary. Breidbach Secondary
experienced an electricity cut.
|School |Amount owed |Municipalities |
| | |owed |
|Willowmore Secondary|R77Â 188.343 |Bavians |
|Willowmore primary |R880.68 |Bavians |
|Breidbach Secondary |R307Â 000.00 |Buffalo City |
2) (a)(b) Payments for Willowmore Primary and Secondary schools to
the municipality have been processed by the Eastern Cape
Department of Education. The two schools were closed and
reopened the same day on 23 August 2011. Breidbach Secondary
school was never closed but had the electricity disconnected.
The bill was settled and electricity was reconnected. (c) The
reason for the closure and disconnection relates to budget
constraints,
3) The Eastern Cape Department of Education has taken steps to
address the matter.
4) Willowmore Primary and Secondary schools are section 21 schools
and are responsible to manage their own funds and make payment
directly to the municipality from their allocation. Breidbach
Secondary is a section 20 school. Its bills are paid by the
district office directly to the municipality.