By: Jabulile Mbatha and Vicky Abraham
The Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDOE) has shifted the blame to the National Treasury for the alleged non-payment and frozen positions of some of the Deaf and hearing employees in the special schools.
Currently, some of the Deaf and hearing employees in the special schools who were employed last year in October have expressed that they are hurting as they have been working without pay for the past five months.
A total number of 120 vacant non-teaching support staff positions for 2023/2024 at Special Schools were advertised on 6 September by the ECDOE and the closing date was 22 September.
Today, following several media enquiries from the Diary Series of Deaf People to the ECDOE from 23 January, February and 3 March, the spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima confirmed that out of 120 advertised posts 114 appointment letters were issued and six were not.
Mtima said 32 appointments are suspended and are awaiting authorization. He said 21 employees have been paid. However, Mtima did not state whether the employees will be paid the salaries for the five outstanding months.
He said reasons for delayed salaries is due to “The freezing of posts by Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) in line with circular 49 of 2023. The unfreezing process is centralized at the Office of the Premier and is very slow. The department is uploading appointment documents to the portal for the unfreezing of posts. The six appointment letters [that were] not issued [include] four processes [that] are still in progress and two posts [that] are redirected to other schools).”
According to the advert, positions for Deaf Teaching Assistants were to be filled at four schools for the Deaf: Efata School for the Deaf and Blind, Sive Special School for the Deaf, St Thomas School for the Deaf, and Reuben Birin School for Hearing Impaired.
Sources confirmed that two Deaf employees and one hearing employee at the Sive Special School for The Deaf are among those who have been allegedly working without pay for the past five months. This is despite having received appointment letters and contracts, stipulating their working conditions and salaries. But on their arrival at work when schools reopened on 17 January 2024, they were allegedly told their positions had been frozen. But they continued with their duties after media enquiries from the Diary Series of Deaf People to the school and the ECDOE.
On the other hand, it is alleged that three Deaf Assistant Teachers, one foreman, and two Deaf hostel assistants at Efata School for the Deaf and Blind only received their appointment letters in January even though they were supposed to have commenced their duties in October.
The Diary Series of Deaf People has been reliably informed that contracts of 10 employed workers at Efata ended last year. The school had hoped the newly appointed employees would immediately fill up the said positions. However, they commenced work in January. The late appointment of six new employees is said to have affected the school as they were allegedly short-staffed. Efata’s Principal Yolanda Mtwa directed all questions to Mtima.
Mtima did not respond on whether positions at the St Thomas, Reuben Birin, Northern Lights, Grahamstown Amasango Career School, Kuyasa Combined School, Ikhwezi Lokusa Special School, Vukuzenzele Special School were also frozen.
On February 14, Mtima explained that:
“The National Treasury issued a moratorium to all the nine provinces regarding the unfunded posts to say stop employing if the posts are not funded. In all the departments, most of the advertised posts were unfunded. The National Treasury said [to them] ‘wait, we have a crisis.’ So, they said, do not appoint anyone. When this moratorium was received, it was sent to all districts to freeze the posts. But in the special schools, like Sive the posts were taken away from the list of the posts that are unfunded. Therefore, their information was processed, and their appointments continued.”
Upon enquiry, the National Treasury Media Unit said:
“The National Treasury through cabinet, issued a guidance note on cost containment advising departments on a national shortfall. The National Treasury did not give an order for posts to be frozen, merely advising departments to reprioritize budget and new hires to be obtained through DPSA permission.”
The General Secretary of South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), Mugwena Maluleke said, the union will approach the court on an urgent basis to remedy the situation.
The principal of Sive Special School for the Deaf, Mr. Hamilton Tsese and the school governing body (SGB) gave contradictory answers regarding the initial suspension of the positions.
On Tuesday, 23 January, the Diary Series of Deaf People called the Sive Special School’s SGB secretary, Sifiso Mdluli, who said he did not even know that the three employees’ positions had been suspended. According to his knowledge, he thought they were still at work.
However, approached for further comment on 24 January Mdluli said, “They are here, they are currently working.”
Probed further about the nonpayment of the three staff members, Mdluli seemed clueless about it.
“I am not sure how they got appointed, and which programme of appointment they are under or if any programme was followed. Nothing has been communicated to the SGB,” Mdluli said.
On the other hand, Tsese said in a text message response, “I think you heard it wrongly, please investigate. No one has been suspended and the said employees are still at the school.”
Mdluli later said they had been informed that the district’s office had frozen the posts, contradicting Tsese’s statement. “We will go to the district office to try to resolve the matter,” said Mdluli.
A source close to the situation said they are shocked that Tsese denied that the teachers were initially suspended. It is understood that the matter has affected the teachers physically and emotionally.
Another source expressed the devastating and painful nature of the situation, highlighting that there was a promising future for the Deaf educators. The three teachers had signed all the necessary documents and received appointment letters, but now the school is “singing a different tune.”
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Shadow Minister of Basic Education, Baxolile Nodada, said he was aware of the issue and condemned the Sive Special School’s conduct.
He said:
“The department needs to make sure that when they make appointments in the school, they follow the Provincial Performance Measure. Meaning, the post establishment in that particular school are budgeted for. When those appointments are made, the educators need to be paid, especially considering it is a special needs school and there is a requirement for specialized skills in that particular school.”
He added, “The response given by the department just deflects that it is untrue, in fact it is a lie. They need to be held accountable for their actions and they must take responsibility for what has happened to these teachers.
“The department has no interest in special needs schools. The budget has been cut, despite the massive need for specialized teacher support, including social support from psychiatrists and physiotherapist as well as social workers. So, it is crucial that the budget is reviewed, ensuring that special needs schools are not overlooked but rather learners are catered for, just as it is done with other schools.”
Nodada said:
“We will make sure that the pay that is due to those particular educators is given and that the people that have perpetrated such atrocities toward their own mental health and well-being, are held accountable.”
Nodada stated that it is unacceptable for the school to conduct itself in such a manner, especially communicating crucial information with employees via text messages, which he deemed non-procedural. He added that:
“It’s unfathomable that educators that are assisting special needs learners have not been paid their salaries.”
He promised that the DA would be contacting the ECDOE spokesperson for answers on the matter.