No pay: Northern Cape Grade R teachers suffer in salary bungle

Children unable to go to school‚ unpaid shop accounts and cancelled insurance policies are among the financial woes some Northern Cape Grade R teachers face after not receiving any pay since the beginning of the year.

While those teaching other grades received their salaries at the end of January‚ about 192 Grade R teachers have not been paid. The provincial education department says it is because they have not submitted required documents for annual contract renewal.

Nomusa Tembe* a Grade R teacher at a school in Nonzwakazi township‚ De Aar‚ said the problem began in 2014 when they remained unpaid for the first three months of the year‚ receiving their wages only in April.

Tembe asked the school principal about the delays but said she had not received a satisfactory answer.

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“While nobody seems to know what the problem is‚ the department still wants the work done during the months that we are not paid on time. Things are difficult at home but we are scared that if we embark on a go-slow or a strike they will fire us on the spot. It is purely abuse that we are experiencing from the department‚” Tembe said.

Her colleague‚ who also did not want her name to be disclosed‚ said her child was unable to register at school and was at home because of the late payment.

“We are really starving and as a single parent this is a heavy burden. Everyone knows how difficult the month of January is but ours is worse because we work in the month without pay‚” she said.

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The government has put increasing emphasis on ensuring more children receive foundation-phase education. While this is the government's commitment‚ Tembe and her Grade R colleagues say they it has not filtered down to them.

She said the issue had in previous years been reported to the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in the province but they had been paid soon afterwards and had not followed up with the union.

However‚ the union told The Times it had not received any complaint.

“We will have to investigate. Sadtu will go to the department and inquire. I cannot now pre-empt what the department will say‚” said Sipho Mayongo‚ provincial secretary.

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The Northern Cape Department of Education said it had conferred with the principals and school governing bodies on processes and requirements for the extension of the Grade R contracts.

“The engagement was done timeously to ensure that there would be no delays in the payments of practitioners in January 2017. The contracts are renewed annually; this has been a practice for the past five years‚” said spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe.

For the department to approve payment it needs 12 documents which include tax certificates‚ signed Z83 forms and UIF registration.

“It should be noted that no payment would be processed if all documents were not submitted or were incomplete. No faxed copies were accepted. All of this was emphasised to all stakeholders during these engagements‚” Van der Merwe said.

But Tembe rejected this‚ saying that the teachers submitted all the documents in October last year. While the delay continues‚ families of the teachers continue to suffer.

*Not her real name.