The Citizen reports temporary teachers in Limpopo who assumed their duties at the start of June have seemingly gone unpaid due to the department of education’s ‘heavy workload’.  

The affected number of ad hoc teachers who received their appointment letters is not known, as the department does not want to elaborate upon the issue.  However, the Bosveld Review reports that a few local calls revealed that ad hoc teachers working at least four schools in Limpopo were affected.  The teachers have been struggling to scrape money together for transport, accommodation and food, as well as paying their bills, vehicles and medical aid scheme fees.  Fortunately, some schools have been in the position to assist the ad hoc teachers with basic necessities to survive.  Schools and affected teachers have contacted several officials of the department to assist the temporary teachers, but without success so far.  Sam Makondo, spokesperson for the department of education, said appointments of teachers were handled by district offices and the head office would only react once problems arose.  He added that the matter had been resolved and officials were working overtime to see to it that ad hoc teachers would receive their outstanding salaries by the end of August.  He attributed the problem to a ‘system glitch’.

• Read this report by Nelie Erasmus in full at The Citizen

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