Education heads face court appearances

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga, Eastern Cape counterpart Mandla Makupula and their departmental heads have until the end of this month to appoint more than 100 teachers at 32 schools in line with a court order.

If they do not, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) says, they will be required to appear in the Grahamstown High Court and explain the failure.

About 32 schools approached the court to order the department to reimburse about R25-million in teacher salaries that the department should have paid but which the schools had been forced to pay out of their own funds.

They also asked the court to order the department to fill vacant teacher posts in line with the 2014 post establishment. This amounted to about 130 appointments of teachers already serving at the schools.

In a landmark settlement in March, Motshekga, Makupula and their respective heads of department, Bobby Soobrayan and Mthunywa Ngonzo, agreed to a court order that they would reimburse the 32 schools within four months.

They also agreed to appoint the 130 teachers on a temporary basis between January and June 2014 and then on a permanent basis from July.

LRC director Sarah Sephton says in a stern letter to the department's lawyers this week that not one of more than 130 teachers listed had received a letter of appointment.

But it had been agreed to delay action for one more week.

A department spokesman confirmed the agreement.

Meanwhile, similar cases involving up to R80-million and 90 schools may be lodged. - Adrienne Carlisle