Durban — Teacher unions have welcomed the eThekwini Municipality’s initiative to roll out pre-paid meters to schools to assist the Department of Education in converting all schools in the metro from postpaid to pre-paid electricity metering.
The municipality said the programme was currently focusing on schools in debt, but it was also available to all public schools irrespective of debt status.
The City said of the 1 000 schools that are supplied electricity by the municipality, 66 have applied for prepaid metering.
In recent years, it was reported that in Durban, dozens of schools were being threatened with electricity and water cuts and that affected schooling.
The municipality said that to improve electricity and water debt collection, it was currently rolling out a smart meter programme.
More than 120 000 smart meters have been installed, and in line with the electricity turnaround strategy, a further 150 000 electricity smart meters will be rolled out over the next five years, said the City.
Meanwhile, water smart meters were still at the procurement stage.
National Teachers' Union (Natu) general secretary Doctor Ngema welcomed the municipality’s initiative.
Natu urged the Department of Education in the province to fund schools adequately so that they can pay for municipal services such as electricity.
“Most of our schools are not fee-paying and depend on government funding for their survival.
“Principals must budget for water and electricity.
Teaching and learning are almost impossible without electricity, especially during exam times when schools need to duplicate exam question papers.
“We are aware of the reports that surfaced earlier this year suggesting that some education offices were closed due to termination of electricity supply because of unpaid bills and we condemn that practice,“ said Ngema.
SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) provincial secretary in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomarashiya Caluza, said the initiatives were well appreciated by Sadtu. Schools have been suffering huge metro bills, some of which could not be justified. Schools would receive bills for water usage even during school closures, she said.
The worst part was that schools were charged as if they were operating businesses, she added.
“Sadtu has been calling for prepaid electricity for schools, hence the excitement at this announcement.
“However, 66 from 1000 is nothing, more schools must move to prepaid,” said Caluza.
eThekwini Municipality Mayor, Cyril Xaba, said the initiative forms part of the City’s debt-reduction strategy.
“As the leadership of the City, we have made a commitment to improve revenue collection so that we are able to deliver quality services.
“At the same time, we must assist customers who have challenges, but are willing to pay for services because a happy customer is a paying customer,” said Xaba.
The KZN Department of Education had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.
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