An emergency R2bn advance brings temporary relief, but fails to fix the deeper financial issues caused by cumulative budget cuts and poor management. As cash-strapped schools face a brutal struggle to stay afloat, the threat of a Section 100 national takeover looms.
The KwaZulu-Natal Education Department has narrowly escaped a funding crisis after securing a R2 billion emergency advance from the national treasury. However, while the multibillion-rand intervention brings immediate relief, it ultimately serves as a temporary patch for a department on financial life support.
According to Sakhile Mngadi, DA KZN's spokesperson on education, the country's largest provincial education system has been pushed to the brink due to cumulative budget cuts and poor funding choices. These include risky contracts, inadequate controls, and persistent failure to align spending with available resources.
“Internally, there is no appetite for reform. They are actively resisting the financial recovery plan presented by the Treasury to help them. They are fighting directly against Section 18 intervention; they fight all of it,” Mangdi said.
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chronic overspending
In August 2025, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Treasury invoked Section 18 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), giving it direct control over the department's finances following massive budget overruns and failure to improve its financial position.
In May 2026, it increased intervention by placing the provincial Accountant General permanently in charge of all financial operations with the authority to demand documents, issue binding instructions and implement results management.
The increase was…