Cape Town — The Gauteng Department of Education has faced controversy recently due to two incidents: first, failing to pay the pension of a teacher who suffered a stroke, and second, dismissing a teacher who was irregularly hired.
Lucky Tsotetsi, a 60-year-old Gauteng teacher, was forced to retire after a stroke in 2016. Since then, the Gauteng Department of Education has withheld his pension, leaving him to rely on handouts for survival, he revealed, according to IOL.
“My pension benefits are still to be paid into my bank account, when I retired on the 3rd of July 2023, the GDE continued paying my salary until it was stopped in March 2024, and now the GDE demands that I am indebted to it and I should refund it from August 2023 to March 2024,” Tsotetsi said.
He said that he did not ask the department to continue paying his salary as he had retired. A woman who works as a Human Resources and Administration officer for the GDE, Christene Pelo, said she had shown her colleagues who worked under Sehlare Seshibe, that what he had done to Tsoletsi was a travesty of justice.
The distraught Tsotetsi’s current financial situation means he could soon lose his car due to non-payment. He added that the District Director was also aware of his situation, which has not helped.
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The GDE has also seen a rise in irregular appointments and was forced to dismiss a Grade 2 substitute teacher appointed. Still, following a contractual dispute, she was subsequently dismissed, according to The Citizen.
The deputy principal appointed the teacher to Ntozkweni Primary School in Springs, and she was appointed to teach isiZulu, English, maths and life skills.
The School Governing Body (SGB) signed off on an application for a temporary contract by the GDE. She was expected to earn R29 000 per month and the department was scrambling to get her payments sorted.
However, she was informed that there were challenges with regard to processing and she was told the school would offer to pay her R250 per day, but she was unable to get an explanation from the principal or the deputy.
“The school then decided to appoint her to an SGB post after realising the department would not process her appointment,” Mkhwemte said.
“However, the teacher is refusing the SGB post, citing an insufficient salary, citing a preference for the salary paid by the department,” Mkhwemte added.
In the letter sent by the department to its officials, it states that “assumption of duty in a post without the obligatory appointment letter is not allowed and may result in nonpayment for services rendered.”
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
