The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, says she will engage with National Treasury this week, in a bid to shore up financial support following budget cuts in the sector that are threatening thousands of teacher posts across the country.

In the Western Cape alone, more than 2000 contract teacher posts are at risk of not being renewed in 2025 due to a R3.8 billion budget shortfall. Opposition parties and teacher unions have however criticised the Western Cape Education Department, urging it to reprioritise funding to protect teacher jobs.

In other provinces thousands of teacher posts are at risk, with 11 000 jobs that will reportedly be slashed in KwaZulu Natal.

Gwarube held an impromptu meeting with all five teacher unions last week, to reassure them of her commitment to protect the basic education sector from further financial strain.

The Minister says she will convene a meeting with Education MEC’s of all nine provinces ahead of her meeting with Treasury this week.

She says a provincial analysis will be done, which will in turn form the basis of the her discussions with National Treasury and the Minister of Finance.

“ I am working very hard to ensure we have a full understanding of the impact of the budget cuts in the sector. I am determined to work with Treasury to ensure that we cushion the blow on frontline services in the sector. Additionally, we must place data-driven evidence before my Cabinet colleague the Minister of Finance and to find innovative ways to avoid further cuts to the education budget but to explore ways to do more with less.”

Earlier this month, the Western Cape Education Department also sought to get support from teacher unions, calling on them to fight with the Department, instead of against it.

MEC David Maynier said they were doing everything in their power to protect teacher jobs, but that a proposed strike would do nothing to change the fact that the province was being ”short-changed by the national government, which only provided 64% of the cost of the wage agreement negotiated nationally with unions, leaving the province to fund the remaining 36%.”

He says the only way to close the R3.8 billion gap would be to cut critical support to schools in poorer communities, including school feeding, learner transport, and payments to schools with which they pay their daily expenses.

“We would have to hollow out our non-personnel spending to become a department that only transfers salaries and does not offer any support to teachers, learners and schools.
We have already made R2.5 billion in budget cuts to non-personnel spending, including dramatic cuts to the #BackOnTrack programme budget.”

Maynier has expressed fresh concern after the signing of the BELA Bill on Friday, which he says will add even more pressure to provincial education departments.

The MEC says making Grade R compulsory in the basic education sector, amid zero available funding from Treasury, will exacerbate the current budget shortfall crisis, and destroy provinces financially who will have to find over R17 billion rand to fund this.

Two clauses in the Bill – that deal with admissions and language policy – were put on hold, pending further consultations.