The Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, has chosen to hide from citizens how much of South Africa’s R330 billion education budget is spent on paying teachers, administrators, and education officials across the country.
This follows a written parliamentary question from BOSA Deputy Leader, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster MP, seeking a simple breakdown as to how many people work in the basic education sector, in what categories, and what is the total salary bill?
Instead of providing a full and transparent response, the Minister passed the buck, telling Parliament to “ask the provinces” instead.
This is not just bureaucratic laziness – it’s a deliberate dodge. The Minister is hiding behind legal technicalities in the Public Service Act and the Employment of Educators Act to avoid answering fundamental questions about how the biggest line item in our education budget is being spent.
In her response, the Minister only accounted for the 773 employees in the national Department of Basic Education. The remaining hundreds of thousands of school-based staff across the nine provinces were ignored entirely.
South Africa’s basic education system is under strain. Yet when Parliament seeks answers about how money is being spent, the Minister tells us to go knock on nine provincial doors instead.
BOSA rejects this excuse-making. National leadership cannot simply wash its hands of oversight responsibilities, especially when it comes to the single largest item in our education budget. If the Minister wants to lead, she must account.
We are today calling on:
- The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to summon the Minister to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the national education salary bill.
- National Treasury to clarify what percentage of the R330 billion education budget is spent on compensation of employees, province by province.
- Provincial Education MECs to table full salary and staffing breakdowns before their legislatures and to share this information publicly.
BOSA will keep asking the hard questions, because every rand in the education budget must go toward giving every child a quality education, empowering our youth, building a skilled workforce, and securing South Africa’s future.
Media Enquiries:
Roger Solomons – BOSA Acting Spokesperson – 072 299 3551