KwaZulu-Natal teachers, who are planning to retire early as they will not be allowed to go home early to rest, have faced hardship.
This follows a circular issued by the Head of the Department of Education in the province, Mr. Nathi Ngcobo, who issued a circular informing that those who plan to eat early will not be approved for the time being due to finances.
This move made the Sadtu teachers’ union in the province demand a meeting with Ngcobo as it does not agree with it.
The Secretary of Sadtu, Ms. Nomarashiya Caluza, said that the Department did not contact the workers before this decision.
He said that this is the plan of the national government to provide benefits to those who will retire early.
“It is against the principles of labor laws that something can be approved at the national level in the government, and then some part of the government says that this will not happen. The decision of the government and the Cabinet must be followed, no one will oppose it. We want a meeting with Ngcobo on this matter,” he said.
He said they are not in favor of this move because it is against the right of workers to choose what they want to do.
The Cabinet decided in 2024, that government departments must approve those employees who want to retire. This is one of the government’s efforts to reduce costs as a large budget goes to government employees.
In the Department of Education in the province, most of the money in the allocation goes to the salaries of the employees. This made the Department unable to make other plans including paying contractors on time and this year books did not go to schools due to lack of money. This Department has been placed under the supervision of the Treasury Department, due to financial problems.
In the circular, which Ngcobo wrote to schools and district departments at the beginning of the month, he mentioned that applications for those who want to stay at home due to money will not be approved at this time.
He also pointed out that although there are benefits that will be given by Mgicimafa to those who want to retire early, the leave money as well as other expenses will be given by the provincial department.
He also said that the decision of the Cabinet does not give everyone the right to early retirement as care must be taken to ensure that the delivery of services to the public is not disrupted.
In the budget presented by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Enoch Godongwana last month, he revealed that he has allocated R340 million to provincial departments, in the process of persuading workers to retire early.
He revealed that they have paid R3.7 billion to 8,000 workers, who have retired since October last year.
The spokesperson for the department, Mr. Muzi Mahlambi, said that they do not intend to stop people from taking what is theirs or to undermine the decision of the Cabinet and the Department of Public Works and Administration but at the moment they do not have the power to pay the workers.
He said they showed the employees the challenges they are facing in the department.