South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has granted provincial departments of education R24.6 billion to cover the shortfalls in the payment of teachers.
Delivering his first full budget speech to South Africa from the Good Hope Chamber in Parliament on Wednesday, Godongwana said more money would be availed to cover the shortfalls in paying teachers. He said:
In this budget, we are adding R24.6bn for provincial education departments to address the shortfalls in the compensation of teachers.
According to Business Tech, Level 1 teachers in South Africa, who are the lowest paid and least experienced teachers earn R10 560 a month while principals earn R29 000 a month.
In Zimbabwe, the Government recently threatened to fire teachers who were striking demanding the restoration of their pre-October salaries of US$540 dollars, roughly R8 000.
The Government raised the Zimbabwe dollar salaries for civil servants by 20 per cent, which is still far below the poverty datum line.