Siviwe Gwarube Threatens Tshwane With Legal Action After Electricity Disconnection

• Minister Gwarube demands restoration of services to DBE headquarters or face legal consequences
• City of Tshwane disconnected services over alleged debt linked to public schools, which DBE denies
• Department incurs high costs for backup services while taxpayers bear the financial burden unjustly

PRETORIA, GAUTENG Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube called on the City of Tshwane to immediately restore electricity and water services to the national Department of Basic Education head office or face legal action. Gwarube spoke after the City disconnected services at the department's Pretoria headquarters. The City acted over alleged debt linked to public schools.

According to the department's media release issued on 25 June 2026 which Gwarube shared on X, the national Department of Basic Education's municipal account with the City of Tshwane is in good standing and has a credit balance. The alleged debt relates to certain public schools in the Tshwane metro. Those schools fall under the Gauteng Department of Education.

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Siviwe Gwarube threatens Tshwane with litigation

Gwarube said there was no legal basis for the disconnection. The DBE does not run schools. This is the function of the provinces. The City knew this was not the department's debt. The minister engaged the Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane directly. Officials from the department tried to engage the City before the disconnection. The department briefed the Office of the State Attorney and is preparing legal steps if services are not restored urgently.

The release stated that the department remains operational through contingency measures, including backup electricity generation and reserve water supply. Running generators costs tens of thousands of Rands per day. These are public funds that should support education. Every day that this continues, taxpayers absorb costs that should go to learners. The department is effectively being penalised for debt it does not owe. Gwarube defended the position that the City must correct the matter without delay.

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Read the statement on X here:

Gwarube seeks probe into R1.6bn textbook tender

Similarly, Briefly News reported that Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube has requested Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to investigate an irregularly-awarded textbook tender worth R1.6 billion.

A recently-registered company, Lighthouse Publishers (Pty) Ltd, secured over 26% of the tender, earning R285 million for supplying Grades 1 to 3 textbooks. The firm was registered a day before the department’s briefing on 24 June 2024.

Source: Briefly News