Some and mirrors at teachers’ expense
26 November 2024
The GOOD party is shocked to hear that the MEC for Education has reportedly said the R850 million in budget reallocation to his depart will not save 2,400 teacher posts.
We initially welcomed the allocations as we understood them to address the current, widely publicised teacher cuts.
But we have since learnt that the Education MEC, David Maynier says the funding will not save the jobs.
In her Maiden Medium-Term Budget Policy statement, Western Cape Finance MEC Deidré Baartman detailed how money would be made available within the WCED’s budget to deal with “immediate teaching post pressures.”
It is unclear if this wording was chosen as a deliberate attempt to appease critics or if it was genuinely a poor choice of words.
The GOOD position remains the same.
The Western Cape has enough money to save teacher’s jobs, but it has chosen to spend it on other things.
This is a self-made and avoidable funding crisis.
The Western Cape Provincial Government claims that national government’s budget cuts left them with no choice but to cut 2407 teaching posts from January 2025.
However, instead of using the Education money allocated to the Western Cape, by the National Treasury as the Provincial Equitable Share, for education the Western Cape has taken two percent of this money to spend on other things.
In her Statement today, MEC Baartman also said there will be enough funding within the Department’s budget to deal with its current projected pressure, adding that:
“Provincial Treasury handed over the compass; the Western Cape Education Department will now need to steer the ship”.
If the Education MEC is now saying that this is still not enough then either the Finance MEC was misleading us today or the Education MEC has been misleading us about his department’s finances - since March 2024 when he tabled a balanced budget for Education.
This is absolutely disgraceful. Teachers and learners are entitled to a stable education system and the public is entitled to clear and honest communication.
Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament, 26 November 2024
