The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in KwaZulu-Natal says that the Department of Basic Education should prioritise its workers.
Sadtu Deputy Provincial Secretary, Bheki Shandu says “every department must prioritise the wage bill and make sure that workers are at all times happy and productive.”
“It is our considered view as Sadtu that no employer would compromise the salary bill by ignoring the salary adjustments and conditions of service of any employee,” Shandu said.
His comments follow a picket that is being held today, 4 April 2018, by the union’s members outside the KZN Department of Education. Members are unhappy about salary increments for Grade R teachers.
The union hopes to “put the necessary pressure on the department in Kwa-Zulu Natal to do good by paying outstanding increment monies to Grade R practitioners who were supposed to receive their annual increase on 1 April 2017,” Shandu said.
“This is the most exploited and least paid sector in the department of education. It is, therefore, a travesty of justice for the department not to hurry up in paying their increase for the year,” he said.
He added that the department owed 5800 teachers between R750 and R1250 each. Shandu said that the 5800 teachers are those who have professional qualifications such as a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), and those who are not professionally qualified as educators.
The union says that it has on various occasions tried to engage with the department but to no avail.
