KZN education slammed for reckless spending

Department ordered to put brakes on tenders

- Sihle Mavuso

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has been instructed to halt the awarding of new tenders and undertaking projects after overspending its annual budget by billions.

This was after the department, headed by MEC Sipho Hlomuka from the ANC, overspent by billions and was found to be issuing new tenders even when there was no money to pay service providers after delivery.

These allegations against the department are contained in a letter dated April 5, 2025, which was written by the head of department of the provincial treasury, Carol Coetzee, to Nkosinathi Ngcobo, her counterpart in the Department of Education.

The letter dated March 25, 2025 was in response to a request by Ngcobo for more funding.

Coetzee raised concern that the department had written several letters to the provincial treasury highlighting its financial challenges and consistently requesting additional allocation of funding, despite being fully aware that the provincial treasury has no surplus funds to dish out.