Jacques Baartman, Rocklands
I am writing to express my utmost disgust and condemnation regarding the Western Cape Education Department's (WCED) continued unfair labour practices, specifically the employment of independent contractors to recruit interns for schools in Mitchells Plain.
This practice has proven to be fundamentally flawed and exploitative. It is utterly unacceptable that young interns, many of whom are among the most vulnerable are employed to assist full-time teachers under immense pressure, yet they do not receive their stipends or payments as promised. These interns are not volunteers; many are breadwinners, young parents, and hopeful contributors to society, yet they are misled by false promises.
We were led to believe that we would be compensated for our time, efforts, and dedication to an education system that is now failing us. We have been left waiting in vain for two consecutive months while the service provider passes the buck to the department, which turns a blind eye, leaving us in a precarious situation.
This practice is morally corrupt and legally questionable, undermining the very values of empowerment, access to opportunities, and the development of young people that the department claims to uphold. What kind of message are they sending to the youth of Mitchells Plain, where nearly half of the population is unemployed? Our willingness to serve is met with broken promises and unpaid labour.
Under these circumstances, it is reasonable to request and demand a full investigation into these exploitative contracts, as well as for all interns to be paid in full without any further delays. The WCED must take full responsibility and accountability for the recruitment and payment of all interns, and this must be done with urgency and purpose.
Furthermore, I demand an investigation into the unethical practices of the contractor employed for recruitment by the department. We demand answers, and failing to provide them will compel me to escalate this matter through other legal and public platforms, such as the Public Protector's office and the Human Rights Commission.
WCED spokesperson, Bronagh Hammond, responds:
The WCED is aware that there are assistants under the President’s Education Employment Initiative who have yet to be paid. The payments, however, are not the responsibility of the WCED. The outstanding payments are from another agency and Department.
A portion of assistants on the Presidency's employment initiative are paid by the WCED, using National Treasury funding. The WCED has ensured that all assistants at schools where we are managing payments have indeed been paid in June and July.
The remaining assistants are paid using funding from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), and the Department of Employment and Labour appointed the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as the paymaster for the UIF portion of the Presidency's initiative.
The WCED did not appoint the IDC, nor do we have any authority over them.
The management of stipend payments to the schools where the UIF is managing payments therefore, falls under the purview of the IDC and the Department of Employment and Labour, and not the Western Cape Education Department.
We understand the significant impact this current situation has on our dedicated assistants, many of whom rely on these stipends to support their families and meet their financial obligations. To our knowledge, 194 assistants at schools where payment is administered by the IDC have not been paid. Their information was sent to the IDC months ago!
While we are actively seeking to intervene in this matter, our efforts have yielded limited success thus far.
We remain hopeful that those who have yet to receive their stipends will be compensated as part of this process soon.