The National Alliance of Independent Schools Association (Naisa) has welcomed the announced 5% rate increase for schools by the City of Johannesburg.
During a press briefing yesterday, Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said the one-year solution comes after lengthy negotiations with the national department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (CoGTA) to allow schools to remain under the education category after being re-categorised as businesses from public benefit organisations.
The new municipal rates kicked in last month and saw schools pay higher rates.
According to Naisa’s spokesperson Anne Baker, the mayor needs to further clarity if the affected 741 private schools and 921 public schools in Johannesburg will be moved from the business classification back to the original education bracket.
“We welcome that she is addressing the needs that have been expressed over the last month, coupled with two weeks of constant advocacy. But we look forward to seeing what it actually means, the rates policy being amended as well as the clause that there will be a 5% increase,” she said.
The prepared mayoral committee report that will be made available on August 29 seeks to advise council that general rate increases should be applied on public and private schools. This will apply to bills levied from July 1.
“Five percent doesn’t sound like a lot depending on what your rate is. It might be manageable but I need to go through some of the rates and work it out. I think it’s good that she [Phalatse] is doing something about it and that we are heard, but we would like to see more details,” Baker said.
In explaining the impact CoGTA’s proposed rates would have had, Baker said a certain school in Soweto would have been expected to pay R63,799 under the business category, moving from its usual R7,000 monthly fee.
“With the 25% rebate that school would still have been expected to pay R47,000. That is why everyone reacted the way they did. These exorbitant amounts would give schools no choice but to increase school fees to compensate their expenses while some schools would crumble under the pressure and close doors,” she said.
Naisa represents about 2,000 schools and 400 of those are in Gauteng.
Phalatse said the City has been working around the clock to find a workable solution that does not unduly penalise ratepayers or place the City on the wrong side of the law or the auditor-general.
“While we have had no choice but to comply with the amendments, we have been working hard to find a solution that creates a win-win for all in the short term while we address a long-term strategy, and we are confident that we have found a solution,” she said at a press briefing.
“The process and finer details are being worked on to ensure that the changes are executed seamlessly.”
Phalatse hopes that in the next financial year, CoGTA would accede to their request of allowing the status quo to remain, allowing for schools to continue to be categorised as “education” as opposed to the new amendment.
The amendment was signed off by the president on July 1 2015 and municipalities were given seven years to implement it. Johannesburg did not implement it until August 2021 when they received a non-compliance letter from CoGTA and that began the engagements.
The City has since been taken to court by varying organisations that are unhappy with the proposed changes.
“The City of Johannesburg’s legal and contracts department has requested a meeting with the legal counsel of the parties who have brought action against the City to put the proposal on the table for the clients to consider. The City hopes that in reaching out with a win-win solution, an end can be brought to the matter, along with a commitment from the City to address the issue more permanently in the next fiscal year,” she said.
The national CoGTA office referred all questions to its provincial office, who referred Sowetan to the Gauteng department of education. Responses from the department had not been received at the time of print.
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