Malan & Nortjé Attorneys

26/06/2026

You might have missed it... A recent case heard by the Gauteng High Court of South Africa, in which the City of Tshwane Metro received another hiding, together with a cost order against the City:

𝙲𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙽𝚁: 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼-𝟶𝟿𝟿𝟶𝟷𝟺 𝙻𝙰𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙺𝙾𝙾𝙻 𝚆𝙸𝙴𝚁𝙳𝙰𝙿𝙰𝚁𝙺 & 𝙰𝙵𝚁𝙸𝙵𝙾𝚁𝚄𝙼 𝙽𝙿𝙲 𝚟𝚜 𝙲𝙸𝚃𝚈 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝚂𝙷𝚆𝙰𝙽𝙴 𝙼𝙴𝚃𝚁𝙾𝙿𝙾𝙻𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙽 𝙼𝚄𝙽𝙸𝙲𝙸𝙿𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚃𝚈 & 𝟸 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂

AfriForum represented Laerskool Wierdapark in a case against City of Tshwane after the city cut the school’s electricity over unpaid property rates.

The Court found that this was unlawful because schools need electricity to function properly — for teaching, security, computers, and sanitation. Access to education is protected by the Constitution, so cutting power to a school violates children’s rights.

The Court also said the Gauteng Department of Education, not the school itself, is responsible for paying property rates because the government owns public school property. The school governing body is only responsible for services the school uses directly, like water, electricity and refuse removal.

Before disconnecting the services of Laerskool Wierdapark, City of Tshwane should have worked with the provincial government to resolve the debt dispute instead of targeting the school. The Court said learners and teachers should not suffer because of disagreements between government departments.

The Pretoria High Court ordered the city to restore the school’s electricity immediately and stopped it from disconnecting other schools in similar situations. City of Tshwane also had to pay the school’s legal costs. The ruling may allow schools to claim damages in future for losses caused by unlawful disconnections.

02/06/2026

Laerskool Wierdapark (represented by AfriForum) vs. City of Tshwane

The City of Tshwane disconnected Laerskool Wierdapark’s electricity due to outstanding debt consisting of property rates.

Municipalities have a constitutional mandate to collect debt, but administrative actions must be lawful, fair, and reasonable. Basic education is a protected constitutional right [Section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution]. Cutting off electricity and/or water to a school directly impairs its ability to teach, collapsing digital infrastructure, security systems, and sanitation. The Courts have consistently held that any administrative action by an organ of state that constructively denies children access to education is unconstitutional and invalid

Section 13 of the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, state that public school property is legally vested in the State (the Provincial Government). The Provincial Government owns the land and is the registered owner on the municipal valuation roll. Therefore, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has a non-delegable statutory obligation to pay all property rates and taxes assessed by the City of Tshwane [Section 38(e) of the Public Finance Management Act, 1 of 1999 (PFMA)]. Section 38(1)(f) of the PFMA stipulates that the GDE must settle all contractual obligations and intergovernmental debts within 30 days of receiving an invoice.

The school's governing body (SGB) is only responsible for operational municipal services it consumes directly namely, water, electricity and refuse removal. The Regulations relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure stipulates that all schools must have sufficient water (section 11) and access to a source of electricity (section 10).

City of Tshwane is legally obligated, under Section 37(b) of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005, to first attempt to prevent a full-blown dispute through direct communication, reconciliation of accounts, and administrative cooperation with the province. Section 41(3) of the South African Constitution, explicitly states that organs of state involved in a dispute must "exhaust all other remedies" and make every reasonable effort to settle it before escalating the matter. Local government cannot use municipal disconnections to punish innocent third parties (learners and educators) for intergovernmental billing disputes or provincial administrative failures.

The Pretoria High Court found that the municipality bypassed proper intergovernmental debt resolution channels with the GDE. The fact that Tshwane instead targeted the school directly caused immediate, unjustifiable harm to children's education. The Court applied the principle that innocent consumers cannot be weaponised to force provincial departments to settle debts.

The Court ruled in favour of Laerskool Wierdapark and ordered the City of Tshwane to restore power immediately.The municipality was barred from cutting off other schools under similar circumstances. The Court ordered that City of Tshwane pay Laerskool Wierdapark’s costs of the application, including costs of counsel on Scale B. The Court opened the door for schools to claim financial damages resulting from these unlawful disconnections.

19/05/2026