Parliament, Wednesday, 21 October 2026 – The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries has expressed concern over grant funding returned to the National Treasury after the Department of Basic Education (DBE) was unable to spend the allocated funds.
Committee Chairperson, Mr Makhi Feni, said the return of allocated funding may point to capacity challenges within the department’s financial management environment. The committee is particularly concerned that there was no indication of which projects had been affected by the underspending.
“The committee is surprised that the department could return grant funding, given the extent of the needs and backlogs across the portfolio. We have recently assumed responsibility for the Early Childhood Development function, which requires significant resources. It is important for the department to explain why these funds could not be utilised or reprioritised where needs were evident,” said Mr Feni.
The Department of Basic Education presented its Annual Performance Plan to the committee on Tuesday and reported that it had received an unqualified audit opinion for the previous financial year. The department also indicated that approximately R630 million in conditional grant funding had been returned to the National Treasury.
Mr Feni said the committee viewed the matter seriously, as the funding was intended to improve educational outcomes and conditions in schools. “These are resources meant to improve the learning environment for our children. Areas such as school infrastructure, sanitation, the implementation of norms and standards, and curriculum support, particularly in relation to Early Childhood Development, could have benefited substantially from these funds,” he said.
The committee will write to the department seeking responses to a number of outstanding questions. “We cannot fail our children. We expect consistency and accountability in critical areas such as admissions, teacher absenteeism and the full implementation of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act,” Mr Feni added.
He further emphasised the importance of consequence management where financial misconduct or transgressions are identified.
The committee is concerned that the inability to spend allocated funds, and the subsequent return of grant funding, could have implications for future grant allocations to the Department of Basic Education.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES, MR MAKHI FENI.
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