News24 reports that according to the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the provincial education department has dismally failed to prioritise its programmes and was at risk of collapsing.  

"A worrying factor is the continuous indication by the department in its submissions in the provincial legislature engagements that there's no money in the department such that it can collapse anytime," said Sadtu provincial secretary Nomarashiya Caluza at a press briefing on Tuesday.  Caluza said the revelations have shocked them because the department "takes a bigger slice" of the total provincial budget.  "As role players in the department, we know nothing about how monies are used.  Our view is that the department has dismally failed to prioritise its programmes," she said.  The union also revealed that rural school teachers have not received rural incentives for the whole of 2017.  She furthermore claimed that some schools in the province remained without teachers.  On another point, the union claimed the department was exploiting some teachers by "using them in higher positions without any payment of acting allowance".  Another point of concern was the money the department used in internal disciplinary cases.

• Read this report by Mxolisi Mngadi in full at News24

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