Bhisho in court for R80m unpaid bills

THE Grahamstown High Court is today due to hear a case brought to it by the Legal Resources Centre to compel the Eastern Cape Education Department to hire temporary teachers.

The human rights law clinic is representing 90 schools in the province.

According to court papers, the schools' governing bodies have paid the teachers more than R80-million over the last four years and have not been reimbursed by the department.

The schools say in court documents that they were allocated posts in March, but they have not been permanently filled.

The centre argues that the department has failed to hire permanent teachers and failed to pay appointed teachers.

"As a result, many schools have been compelled to appoint and pay educators to fill these posts.

"The educators' salaries are not budgeted expenses, as they are educators that occupy vacant substantive posts that should be filled by educators appointed and paid for by the provincial Department of Basic Education," the documents say.

"Other non-fee-paying schools, which do not have the funds to fill these posts, have been forced to continue the school year with a shortage of educators [or] with no educators at all.

"This is detrimental to the education of the learners and a violation of their right to basic education." – Bongekile Macupe