BHISHO- The Eastern Cape Department of Education(EC DoE) has admitted in court that it unlawfully and unconstitutionally withheld Billions of Rands from public schools, with an estimated R6 Billion retained from school budgets since 2020.
According to the Democratic Alliance(DA) in the Eastern Cape the admission was made in the Makhanda High Court. The party is now demanding that Education Member of the Executive Council(MEC) Fundile Gade and senior department officials appear before the Legislature’s Education Portfolio Committee to explain how the funds were withheld.
In a statement released on 20th August 2026, Member of the Provincial Legislature DA Shadow MEC for Education Horatio Hendricks said, “MEC Gade cannot simply draw a line under six years of unlawful conduct and move on.”Court papers show that for the current financial year, no-fee schools should receive R1,835 per learner.
However, the department transferred only R1,101 per learner retaining 40% of the allocation. With approximately 1,58 million learners in the province, this amounts to roughly R1.16 Billion withheld in this year alone.The DA said the money was meant for textbooks, stationery, maintenance, electricity, water and other basic materials.
Instead, parents were reportedly asked to provide toilet paper, cleaning products and photocopy paper. Some teachers and principals said they had to buy educational materials out of their own pockets, while several schools faced disconnected municipal services.
“Every rand unlawfully withheld represents resources taken out of a classroom. Eastern Cape learners should not have to wait until 2027 for their government to start obeying the law,” Hendricks said.
The court order compels the department to pay schools their full allocation from the 2027/2028 financial year and to report on compliance until September 2027.
However, the approximately R6 Billion already withheld will not be returned to schools.The DA said it will request that the Portfolio Committee urgently summon the MEC and officials to account for how the decisions were made to withhold the funds and a detailed breakdown of amounts withheld each year since 2020.
“This is a disgrace and a betrayal of the province’s children,” Hendricks added.The Department of Education is yet to respond to requests for comment.
Sthabile Sambela
21 August 2026
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