A group of foreign national teachers have accused the department of education of unfair discrimination.
The department allegedly told some of them they will not be paid for marking Grade 12 final year exam papers because their permits had expired, despite the permits being valid when they rendered their services.
Department spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said he forwarded claims from the teachers to the examinations department for further investigation.
The teachers say that unlike their South African colleagues, they are still waiting to be paid for marking hundreds of matric exam papers in November. Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, the teachers, who asked not to be named, said last year some of them were using Zimbabwean Special Permits (ZSP), which expired in December, and had applied for the new permit introduced by the government, the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP).
The teachers – who claim they are owed between R18000 and R21000 – said although food and accommodation were provided, they had to use their own money to travel to the marking centres scattered around the province and that left a hole in their pockets
A Zimbabwean-born maths teacher said he travelled close to 400km from East London to the marking centre in Graaff-Reinet, where he marked more than 200 papers in two weeks.
“I used my own petrol. Had I known that six months later I would still be waiting for payment, I would never had done it. I feel the department just used us and I feel discriminated against for being a foreigner,” he said.
Another teacher from Zimbabwe, who specialises in physical science and who is currently employed at a well-established East London school, said even though he got his ZEP permit in March, the department had still not paid him.
The teacher, who marked papers in Kirkwood, said this was not the first time he had felt “used and discarded” by the department.
“In 2012 I taught at a township school for a full year and the department never paid me a cent. Every month they gave me different excuses as to why they were not paying me, but for the sake of the learners I stayed on. At the end of the year they said I was never appointed,” he said.
Another teacher from Ghana said he was never given a valid reason why they were not paying him.
He has a valid permit.
“I would not be surprised if they did not pay us at all,” he said.
The teacher, who has been teaching maths literacy at a private school, said he was once employed as a permanent teacher by the department. However, two years into this post, his name “vanished” from the system.
“Between 2010 and 2012 I had a Persal [the civil service payment system] number and worked for the department as a permanent employee.
“After two years, I suddenly stopped getting my salary and when I inquired about it, they told me I was no longer on the system because I was a temporary teacher and all temporary teachers had been removed [from the system],” he said. — arethal@dispatch.co.za
Foreign teachers not yet paid for matric marking
The department allegedly told some of them they will not be paid for marking Grade 12 final year exam papers because their permits had expired, despite the permits being valid when they rendered their services.
Department spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said he forwarded claims from the teachers to the examinations department for further investigation.
The teachers say that unlike their South African colleagues, they are still waiting to be paid for marking hundreds of matric exam papers in November. Speaking to the Daily Dispatch, the teachers, who asked not to be named, said last year some of them were using Zimbabwean Special Permits (ZSP), which expired in December, and had applied for the new permit introduced by the government, the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP).
The teachers – who claim they are owed between R18000 and R21000 – said although food and accommodation were provided, they had to use their own money to travel to the marking centres scattered around the province and that left a hole in their pockets
A Zimbabwean-born maths teacher said he travelled close to 400km from East London to the marking centre in Graaff-Reinet, where he marked more than 200 papers in two weeks.
“I used my own petrol. Had I known that six months later I would still be waiting for payment, I would never had done it. I feel the department just used us and I feel discriminated against for being a foreigner,” he said.
Another teacher from Zimbabwe, who specialises in physical science and who is currently employed at a well-established East London school, said even though he got his ZEP permit in March, the department had still not paid him.
The teacher, who marked papers in Kirkwood, said this was not the first time he had felt “used and discarded” by the department.
“In 2012 I taught at a township school for a full year and the department never paid me a cent. Every month they gave me different excuses as to why they were not paying me, but for the sake of the learners I stayed on. At the end of the year they said I was never appointed,” he said.
Another teacher from Ghana said he was never given a valid reason why they were not paying him.
He has a valid permit.
“I would not be surprised if they did not pay us at all,” he said.
The teacher, who has been teaching maths literacy at a private school, said he was once employed as a permanent teacher by the department. However, two years into this post, his name “vanished” from the system.
“Between 2010 and 2012 I had a Persal [the civil service payment system] number and worked for the department as a permanent employee.
“After two years, I suddenly stopped getting my salary and when I inquired about it, they told me I was no longer on the system because I was a temporary teacher and all temporary teachers had been removed [from the system],” he said. — arethal@dispatch.co.za
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