How renting a photocopier helped destroy a school

The toilets at Baitshoki Secondary School in North West. Photo: Nthusang Lefafa

• Baitshoki Secondary School in North West has a court judgment against it for more than R600,000 after defaulting on rental agreements for two photocopiers and a digital phone.
• The equipment was damaged or stolen during the 2020 covid lockdown shortly after the contracts were signed.
• Meanwhile the school’s 789 learners use broken, unsanitary toilets or relieve themselves in the bush, while classrooms have damaged walls, ceilings and floors.
• As the school’s bank account is frozen, accounts are being administered by the district education department.

More than 789 learners at Baitshoki Secondary School in Itsoseng near Lichtenburg have to use unsanitary and broken toilets. Classrooms in the non-fee school in North West province have damaged walls, broken ceilings and floors. And conditions continue to deteriorate because the school has a judgment against it for more than R600,000 plus legal fees and interest, after it defaulted on a rental agreement for a photocopier and a digital phone.

“It is difficult to focus on your studies in such an environment,” a learner, who asked not to be named, told GroundUp. “The toilets are dirty and broken. Sometimes there is no water. We feel neglected.”

Some learners avoid the toilets altogether and relieve themselves in the bush nearby.

In March 2020, the school entered into two rental agreements. One was for a phone system from Sunlyn for R2,000 per month for 60 months escalating at 15% per annum. This brings the total cost by our calculations to about R160,000. Arrears were to be be charged at 6% above the prime interest rate.

The school also signed a similar agreement for two photocopiers from Corporate Rental Solutions (CRS) for R7,590 per month. The total cost would be R615,000 for the photocopier, at the end of which the school would not even own the equipment, which would remain the property of CRS, according to court papers. Maintenance costs were additional too.

But soon afterwards, during the March 2020 covid lockdown, the phone system was stolen and the photocopiers damaged in a burglary.

By January 2022 the school was more than R20,000 and R57,000 in arrears on the two contracts.

Sunlyn and CRS later ceded their rights to other entities.

In September 2023, judgment was obtained against the school for R147,000 for the phone system by Sasfin, and R459,000 for the photocopiers by the South African Securitisation Programme, which is controlled by Sasfin. In addition, interest at prime plus 6% is owed on the amounts as of 25 January 2022. The school is also liable for the return of the phone system and the photocopiers. It must also pay the legal fees.

A statement from Sasfin in November 2025 said the account balance for the phone system was R294,000 including R156,000 in legal fees.

As lawyers for the school put it in a letter to the education department about a proposed R80,000 per annum repayment programme for the photocopiers, it is “tantamount to filling a bottomless pit …. The school or department will end up paying three or even four times the capital amount”.

The matter is now with the education department’s legal department.

Outgoing school governing body (SGB) member responsible for infrastructure Teko Mkhwanazi told GroundUp that with the school’s bank account closed they cannot set aside any funds for infrastructure development.

He said he had tried on several occasions to get mobile toilets for learners but the district education office has not responded.

North West Department of Education spokesperson Vuyo Mantshule said that due to the ongoing legal matter freezing the school’s bank account, all financial transactions are administered through the district office, in line with the South African Schools Act.

He acknowledged the dilapidated state of the school and said, “The Baitshoki High School project is currently at the planning and procurement stage, with implementation anticipated in the 2026/27 financial year. Final timelines remain subject to procurement processes and budget approvals”.

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