Electricity cut off at School of Excellence, R1,3m municipal bill owed

SABC Sport has learnt from impeccable sources at the school that SOE is owing a municipal bill of around R1,3million and that officials from Ekurhuleni Municipality accompanied by police, arrived at the school on Tuesday to switch off electricity. 

SOE, a footballing academy that has been in existence for over 30 years, finds itself in deep financial trouble after the state-owned enterprise---Transnet—announced in December 2022 that it was leaving the school due to financial constraints.

As the sole donor of the school, Transnet was contributing R20 million annually towards SOE, and as of 31 March 2024, they closed the tap.

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) was supposed to take over the running of the school from 1 April 2024 but that process is taking a bit longer.

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Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi told SABC Sports Live last week that this was not a process to be rushed.

“You can’t rush it, that school needs a lot of planning, it can’t be ad-hoc, but it also needs the parents to understand as well.

“It’s not an entitlement, you need people that share the vision, and you must share that vision with people that can assist that school. I’ve personally spoken to the Motsepe Foundation, and they are very keen, but they also want something that’s concrete for them to invest their money,” said Panyaza.

Parents who have their children at the SOE have also revealed that that it was not the first time that the electricity had been cut off at the school, due to the owed municipal bill.

“It’s so painful to see what’s happening at the school, it’s not like before. They have been having problems with electricity, catering, and security.

“When schools opened in January (2024), there was no electricity for five days and the kids were there. After that, Transnet said they didn’t have money to pay for security and they took our security and catering,” said Vincent Ntsane, a parent of an U15 player at the SOE, during an interview on SABC Sports Live with Xoli Zondo last Saturday.

The delays in the handing over of SOE from Transnet to GDE, have also resulted in the school not having a Grade 8 class and the U13 team, which is part of the requirement for the school to play in the Gauteng Development League (GDL).

The SOE has been run through a trust that has representatives from Transnet and SAFA over the years and produced many players who have gone on to play for Bafana Bafana and clubs locally and overseas.

Some of the popular players to have been produced by SOE include former Bafana Bafana captain Steven Pienaar, Bernard Parker, Dillon Sheppard, Keagan Dolly, Phakamani Mahlambi, Aubrey Modiba to the latest sensations Relebohile Mofokeng of Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns’ Siyabonga Mabena.

“Eskom has not paid the utility bill for at least six months, in November last year [2023], during the Exams, they also wanted to cut electricity and the principal convinced them to delay because of the exams.

“Apparently Transnet has indicated that they will not pay anything after 31 March 2023,” confirmed one of the sources with close knowledge of the operations at SOE.

To compound the matters, SABC Sport has also learnt that none of the staff members have received offers from GDE and there are also no guarantees that they will be paid their salaries for April.

When asked for comment on these latest developments, SOE Principal Gilbert Molala referred SABC Sport to Transnet’s Corporate Social Investment Manager Lehana Khopolo and she then referred to the spokesperson from Transnet for comment.

This is an ongoing story, when the Transnet media desk has responded, the story will be updated.