Unemployed KwaZulu-Natal teachers have vowed to continue with their sit-in at the provincial education department offices in Pietermaritzburg until the department issues them with appointment letters.
Nkosinathi Shezi, 37, from Greytown, who is among more than 120 teachers camping at the offices, said many of his counterparts were discouraged by how some circuit office personnel were hiring teachers and yet dozens of others were unemployed.
“There are instances where some of the teachers are employed without there being proper channels followed. We know this because some of us who have been lucky to be employed on school governing body posts see teachers assuming permanent posts. We are often told they come from districts,” said Shezi.
The sit-in is entering a second week after they embarked on their protest on January 12. Shezi called for transparency in the unemployed teachers database, which is used to recruit teachers.
It does not make sense that a person can be on the database for all these years without a permanent post
— Ntombisonto Mahlaba
Nkosingiphile Xulu, 28, from Nkandla in northern KwaZulu-Natal, said since completing her studies in 2022 she had never been employed. She specialises in further education and training.
“They have never published available posts on the database, yet people are being employed,” said Xulu.
She alleged the last vacancies bulletin was published in 2024.
Ntombisonto Mahlaba, 44, said she has been at her wits’ end trying to secure employment. She said her name had landed on the database in 2019, but she had no luck getting a post. In desperation she had applied in Mpumalanga, where she also had no success.
“It does not make sense that a person can be on the database for all these years without a permanent post,” said Mahlaba.
The disgruntled teachers said their plight had caused them to fall short in paying their registration fees with the South African Council for Educators and they now risk being suspended.
The education department was not immediately available for comment.
TimesLIVE
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