Relief has come to George Dickerson Primary School, which was reimbursed about R80 000 through the class action suit led by Grahamstowns' Legal Resource Centre.
Relief has come to George Dickerson Primary School, which was reimbursed about R80 000 through the class action suit led by Grahamstowns' Legal Resource Centre.
Principal Melville Meiring told Grocott's Mail that the education department had paid back the money to the school, which had been paying teachers out of its own pockets.
The ongoing class action came to a head 1 October when seven luxury cars used by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, her director general and staff were attached.
This came after the LRC sent writs of execution to the sheriffs of the courts in King William’s Town and Pretoria in a bid to secure the teachers' salaries on behalf of 32 Eastern Cape schools that were owed more than R28m.
The Department of Basic Education failed to implement a court order made in March in favour of the 32 schools that had been promised 132 teachers and reimbursement of the costs of hiring temporary staff.
There are thousands of vacant teaching posts in the Eastern Cape, which last year recorded the lowest matric pass rate in the country, at 64.9%.
LRC representative Sarah Sephton told Grocott's Mail that according to the state liability act the consensus is that if the department does not pay the debt the schools are allowed to attach state assets to satisfy their debts.
The LRC is expected to appear in the Grahamstown High Court 30 October on behalf of the schools that have filed a contempt of court order against over the failure to pay up in the time period stipulated in the Collective Agreement No 1 of 2014.
This sees the department collaborating with teachers unions working towards appointing temporary teachers to vacant posts. Its purpose is to provide a procedure for the permanent appointment of temporary educators in vacant substantive posts.
To date, 30 schools have been reimbursed.
The LRC said it will only release the attached assets once the other two schools have been paid.
