Tshwane's municipal manager has been ordered to restore the electricity supply of 67 schools, which was cut off because of outstanding property taxes.

Judge Piet Ebersohn granted an order in the High Court in Pretoria late on Friday.

He gave the metro council until 4.00pm on Saturday to restore the electricity supply to schools and other government bodies.

The judge also ordered the Gauteng Infrastructure Development MEC to immediately pay R107.4-million in outstanding property taxes to the metro council.

He warned he would not hesitate to order the MEC to come to court personally to explain why he should not be locked up for contempt of court if the outstanding property taxes were not paid 'very soon'.

The province must also pay 15.5 percent interest on the outstanding balance until it has been fully paid.

Ebersohn granted a punitive costs order against the provincial authority, ordering it to pay all legal costs of the city and the two primary schools that brought the urgent application to court.

The court heard that the province had failed to pay, even after an urgent meeting with city debt collectors.

It only paid about R13.6-million in outstanding taxes last week, despite giving an undertaking to pay in July.

The court order followed an application by the Laerskool Wierdapark and the Laerskool Hennopspark in Pretoria.

Civil rights initiative AfriForum supported the application on behalf of all schools affected by the council's actions to cut off their electricity without warning.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel hailed the ruling as a victory for the rights of all schools and pupils.

"AfriForum could not just stand by and watch the rights of schools and pupils being undermined while two government bodies fight with each other," he said.