Durban – Two schools owing the Msunduzi Municipality a combined R3 million for rates and services have had their services disconnected by the municipality.
The municipality announced it had cut services to the Nyonithwele and Georgetown high schools, near Edendale, on Monday.
The latest move drew criticism from community members concerned about the impact this would have on schooling as pupils were expected back in class tomorrow after the September holiday.
The municipality said in a post on its Facebook page that Nyonithwele Secondary School's water meter has been disconnected. It said the school owed over R1m in rates.
It said the disconnection was carried out after the school’s failure to honour previous payment arrangements.
It also announced it had cut services to Georgetown High School.
“Operation #QoqaMillion continues today. Illegal water connections were discovered at Georgetown High School where more than R2m in rates is owed to the municipality.”
It also said the disconnection of water was conducted after notices were served and there was a failure to honour previous payment arrangements.
Msunduzi has been on an aggressive campaign disconnecting homes, businesses and government departments which owe it for rates and services.
The initiative started some weeks ago and the municipality announced that in the first two weeks of the drive, it had collected more than R100m.
KwaZulu-Natal Education department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said it was aware of the disconnections.
He said the district director together with the principals of the affected schools had met with the municipality.
“There are continuous engagements.”