The Gauteng Department of Education has received a letter of demand for R126 million from a private company Soweto Focus Point regarding the use of our schools as holiday accommodation for soccer tourists. We will be defending the matter.
In March 2010 it came to the attention of the Head of the Gauteng Department of Education that an organisation called Soweto Focus Point was entering into agreements with School Governing Bodies to use our schools as holiday accommodation for the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup.
At no stage did Soweto Focus Point (SFP) request a meeting with the accounting officer of the department to discuss their project or to ask for authorisation.
Section 20(1)(g) of the South African Schools Act provides that the School Governing Body (SGB) of a public school must administer and control the school’s property, and buildings and grounds occupied by the school, including schools hotels.
Section 20 (2) of the South African Schools Act (SASA) also allows SGBs to raise funds to supplement resources from the state. Section 36 makes it clear that in so doing, SGBs must adhere to laws and local bylaws including health and safety by-laws. Section 60 of SASA places liability for the failure of a business venture in a school on the SGB of the school and not the state. On that basis, the HOD thought it appropriate to caution schools about the problems they might face should they enter into these agreements.
Accordingly we issued a letter to district directors and all principals on 16 March 2010 and made the point that the department “discourages the practice” of letting school facilities for this purpose.
After SFP had done their preparations and renovations, and on the eve of the World Cup they wrote to the HOD requesting a letter of support. We referred them to the letter dated 16 March 2010.
The truth of the matter is that SFP does not require or need permission from the department to run their project. Our only concern has been to ensure that SGBs are aware of the potential liabilities they could face through entering into such agreements and we warned them accordingly.
For more information contact:
Charles Phahlane
Tel: 011 355 1530
Cell: 071 860 4496
