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Western Cape Education gets R250m budget boost but extra money won’t save teacher jobs

Western Cape Education gets R250m budget boost but extra money won’t save teacher jobs
The Good party’s Brett Herron says he is shocked that the extra R250-million allocated to the Western Cape Education Department in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement will not go towards saving teacher posts. (Photo: Ziyaad Douglas / Gallo Images)
Siyabonga Goni
By Siyabonga Goni
27 Nov 2024
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The Western Cape Education Department has received an extra R250m to alleviate budgetary pressures, but it will have no effect on the plan to cut 2,400 teacher posts. 

Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier says that despite an additional R250-million allocated to his department, the funds won’t affect plans to cut teacher posts.

Since Maynier’s announcement in August 2024 on the R3.8-billion budget shortfall in the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), which would result in the loss of 2,407 teacher posts, the Western Cape government has beed criticised by unions and opposition parties.

On Tuesday, 26 November, Finance MEC Deidré Baartman delivered her first Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement for 2024/25 in the Western Cape legislature.

Baartman said the WCED’s R250-million budgetary increase was aimed at helping it pay salary increases that had been agreed to by the national government. 

Read more: Call to action against Western Cape teacher job cuts, while MEC Maynier says situation is ‘critical’

While the WCED has progressively reduced its budgetary shortfall on the salary increases, it still faces a residual risk of R105-million after receiving the extra R250-million, according to Baartman. Residual refers to the ongoing or remaining financial demands on a budget after accounting for known or expected expenditures.

She said the provincial treasury would now not earmark R600-million from the provincial equitable share for the WCED’s infrastructure allocation to help the department cover its other costs.

“What this means is there will be enough funding within the department’s budget to deal with its current projected pressure,” Baartman said.

However, Maynier said: “The residual budget pressure refers to the deficit after cutting 2,407 teaching posts. The additional allocation towards reducing the remaining budget deficit will have no effect on the reduction in posts. We will continue to do everything we can to fight for our teachers in the Western Cape.”

Opposition ‘shocked’


Good Party's Brett Herron The Good party’s Brett Herron says he is shocked that the extra R250-million allocated to the Western Cape Education Department in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement will not go towards saving teacher posts. (Photo: Ziyaad Douglas / Gallo Images)



The Good party’s Brett Herron said he was shocked to hear Maynier reportedly say the budget reallocation will not save 2,400 teacher posts.

“If the education MEC is now saying that this is still not enough then either the finance MEC was misleading us today or the education MEC has been misleading us about his department’s finances – since March 2024 when he tabled a balanced budget for education.

“This is absolutely disgraceful. Teachers and learners are entitled to a stable education system and the public is entitled to clear and honest communication,” Herron said.

The executive director of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa, Basil Manual, told Daily Maverick: “We need the teachers in the school and when you consider the implementation of new subjects that are coming in, we need teachers.”

Disaster funding 


Baartman said the Western Cape government’s applications for disaster and infrastructure funding from the national government had been approved and the province would receive R1.198-billion.

Since 2023, there have been several weather-related disasters, including massive flooding in Citrusdal in June 2023. More flooding occurred in September 2023. In June and July this year, heavy rains hit several parts of Western Cape.

In a meeting of the provincial standing committee for infrastructure in August 2024, it emerged that the estimated costs for flood damage stood at R1.8-billion for June 2023 to July 2024.

Read more: R1.8bn bill for Western Cape flood repairs — province ‘needs climate-resilient infrastructure’

Baartman described how the funds would be spent: “R947-million for disaster-related infrastructure reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure from national conditional grants and R251-million for the Rapid School Build programme, which forms part of R2.5-billion approval for school infrastructure over the 2024 MTEF [medium-term expenditure framework].”

More than R21-million will be allocated for disasters in the current 2024/25 financial year. According to Baartman, R7-million will be for integrated fire and water response and R3-million will be reprioritised for aerial fire support; while R6.2-million will be allocated from the Poverty Reduction Fund and reprioritised for humanitarian emergency relief and nutritional support. DM

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