More than 900 schools in eThekwini Municipality struggling to pay utility bills

More than 900 schools in the eThekwini Municipality are in arrears with their utility bills. This is according to Inkatha Freedom Party councillor Jonathan Annipen, who has raised the matter in council.

According to the party, the City had already begun disconnecting electricity and water supply to some of these schools.  Annipen says some of the schools owe in excess of R7 million to the city.

The party tabled several recommendations, including that the repayment period be extended from 36 months to 60 months, and the waiving of the 10% deposit for total outstanding debt.

Annipen says the motion was carried unopposed. He claims the matter will also be raised in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.

“We have learnt from schools in Phoenix that they had been disconnected by the municipality for non-payment for utilities. We then engaged with the council. I requested a list of all the schools within the municipality that are in arrears with the council, I found out that there were 911 schools scheduled for disconnection. We then negotiated with the municipality to halt these disconnections.”