Twenty-eight teachers have taken the Eastern Cape Education Department to court in an attempt to get their outstanding salaries paid.
Twenty-eight teachers have taken the Eastern Cape Education Department to court in an attempt to get their outstanding salaries paid.
The case will be heard in the Grahamstown High Court on Thursday. There have been two consecutive court orders before, which the Eastern Cape Education Department’s failed to comply with.
An estimated R630 000 is owed to the teachers after an eight month dry-spell, and this figure continues to grow as legal proceedings drag on. The teachers have received assistance from the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), which has been at loggerheads with the provincial Education Department over the issue for over four months now.
The court imposed deadlines of 30 June and then 9 August for payment of the teachers have not been met. A recently added writ of attachment aims to secure the department’s co-operation and compliance with the court orders.
The writ of attachment proposed by the LRC to Grahamstown High Court’s Sheriff orders the department to reimburse the unpaid salaries with moveable assets, which would include those that belong to MEC for Education, Mandla Makupula.
The department said it will “counter this latest decision” and has sought out legal advice of their own. "They are more than welcome to counter it. But the only way to solve this is by paying teachers like the order says," said LRC representative, Sarah Sephton.
Sephton said that the department was fully aware of the consequences of not paying their contracted employees. The only way they can avoid having their assets sold, which should normally include all vehicles, is to cover the accumulated debt against the state.
