Western Cape teacher cuts: Unbelievably uneducated choices with funding allocations

12 September 2024

Speaker,

It is said that the choices governments make in compiling budgets reflect their values and aspirations. 

It is the Western Cape Government’s choice to cull thousands of teachers posts because it would rather spend money dabbling in crime prevention. 

That’s despite the facts that dealing with crime is a national government competency, and the province’s expensive dabbling to date has borne no fruit. 

But the province doesn’t want to own its choice. 

It can’t admit that teachers’ jobs must pay for the theatre of its provincial security force, so it falsely blames unanticipated public sector wage increases for its shortage of money.

A quick check of the provincial budgets reveals the truth of these matters.

1.      First, education and health services have been defunded by R2.7 billion since 2019 to pay for a Safety Plan that’s had no impact on quarterly crime statistics.

The base line of funding, the allocation to education from the Provincial Equitable Share, was reduced to enable the province to spend R1.7 billion on its policing plan from 2019 to 2023, with the 2024 budget committing an additional R1 billion over the next three years.

1.      Second, the MEC for Education indicated in his 2024 budget speech that his department had a shortfall of R537 million at the end of last year as a result of the public service wage increases.

He did not say this would result in a reduction in teaching posts. On the contrary, the Provincial Education Budget Vote was tabled as a balanced budget which provided for Improvement of Conditions of service based on CPI (which they tabled as 4.9% in 2024/25), as well as Pay Progression of 1.5% in each year of the budget, plus housing allowance and medical aid.

The March 2024 public service wage agreement was settled at 4.7% from 1 April 2024. The department budgeted for a 6.1% increase for compensation of employees. 

1.      Third, just 6 months ago when the budget vote was approved, the MEC disclosed no plans to cut educator posts – his budget actually planned to increase posts in his department by 1018, from 46 392 to 47 410 employees, from 2023 to 2024.  

2.      Finally, its important to note that 42.2% of all funds raised nationally are paid to provinces in the form of the Provincial Equitable Share.

Based on population size and growth, the Western Cape Government complains that we don’t get our fair share. Perhaps it should contract one of the teachers it wants to fire to come in and school it on the difference between an “equitable share” and “proportional share”.

48% of the provincial equitable share is based on the size of the school-age population and the number of learners enrolled in public ordinary schools. You’d think that proportion of funding would require provinces to prioritise education.

Speaker…

The Western Cape equitable share this year was R62B. We shouldn’t be short of money to pay teachers. 

We could start by making minor reductions to the R5 Billion allocated to its policing initiatives and the R21.8 Billion allocated to “innovation” over the next three years.

The disconnect between provincial budgets catering for wage increases, only for the Department to announce it is being forced to shed more than 2400 teacher jobs because it doesn’t have funds to cover wage increases, requires explanation.

Did the government deliberately table inaccurate budgets before the elections to mislead voters ahead of the election, or do our political leaders not understand their own budgets?

Whichever it is, what is undeniable is that this government has made unbelievably uneducated choices with its funding allocations. With better choices no teachers posts need be lost.

Issued by Brett Herron, Secretary General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament, 12 September 2024