Unpaid teachers tell of hardship

Many living on handouts as debt piles up

DOZENS of Eastern Cape teachers, who have gone months without their salaries, are desperate for their money as they fear losing their homes, cars and other belongings as their financial woes pile up.

About 100 newly appointed teachers from across the province have come forward, saying they had not seen a cent in salaries since they were appointed in January.

The teachers say they have been forced to live on handouts and accumulating loans as they deal with “excuse after excuse” from the department.

Some have been forced to move out of their homes and live with relatives as they battle to make ends meet.

The department, which has been scrambling to fill more than 4 000 vacancies in the province, had appointed 1 704 teachers by May 11.

A Graaff-Reinet teacher, who would not be named for fear of jeopardising her efforts to get paid, said she was owed about R97 000 by the department.

The teacher, who is a single mother with a special needs child, is owed a salary from the time she was employed as a tem- porary teacher from January to March and as a permanent teacher from March 10.

“I joined the school in August last year as a temp and was paid. My contract expired in December, but I got another one in January from when schools opened until March. I then got a permanent appointment letter in March, complete with a persal number,” she said.

“I’m yet to see a cent. How I am expected to live for five months without payment is beyond me.”

The teacher, who has been teaching for six years, said she was forced to moved out of the house she was renting and back in with her parents.

“Things just pile up. My 22-month-old son must see a therapist every week at a cost of R400 and commuting to Port Elizabeth weekly costs me R600 a return trip. That is a lot of money for someone without an income.”

Naadirah Haroum, 23, said she thought that being a graduate of the Department of Basic Education’s bursary scheme would mean smooth sailing.

She was appointed as a temporary teacher from January to May at Malabar Primary School and got a contract at Woolhope High School from May 20 to June 26.

“As the breadwinner at home, I’m stuck. I cannot pay for anything and even going to work is becoming a mission because there just isn’t any money,” she said.

“I live with my dad, who has been unemployed since his triple bypass in 2009, and we are already two months behind on our bond repayments.

“Accounts are going unpaid, municipal bills are piling up and life seems at a standstill. It is not fair. A whole five months without payment,” Haroum said.

DA provincial education spokesman Edmund van Vuuren said more than 100 teachers had approached his office for help in getting their salaries.

Van Vuuren said he had written to MEC Mandla Makupula, asking for an explanation.

“There was no response on that. I will be putting in a written question demanding answers. If [Makupula] cannot respond to an MPL, what chance do ordinary teachers have? The department must answer to this because those that have approached my office could very well be the tip of the iceberg.”

Department spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the department sincerely apologised for the delay in payment and that teachers should expect payment from later this week.

“This delay was due to a systemic error, [but] all the paper work has been finalised to date and they should get their money from the last week of this month, while the last batch may have theirs not later than mid-June,” he said.