The country’s largest teachers unions have called on the government to exercise strict oversight over independent schools that do not comply with relevant laws and regulations.
This is after disgruntled teachers accused a privately owned Christian educational institution of flouting labour legislation. They claim none of the 40 educators at Witbank Christian Academy are permanently employed.
Of this number, only 15 educators were South African, with the rest foreign nationals. They said they earned R6,000 per month, while the institution had apparently claimed to the department of basic education (DBE), and the department of employment and labour that they earned monthly wages of R15,000.
“They pocket the difference and this is unethical, deceitful and criminal,” said one educator who did not wish to be named for fear of reprisals. Another said her contract was not renewed when it ended, while another confirmed that indeed “there are issues” with the school.
In the public sector, a teacher at the lower end of the scale may earn as little as R154,671 per annum, while those at the upper end could earn up to R1.2m per annum. The DBE received a R32.3bn budget from the Treasury for the 2024/25 financial year.
Witbank Christian Academy is part of the Metropolitan Group of Schools (MGS), which comprises 13 campuses throughout Mpumalanga and Eswatini. The group, which says it has been in business for the past 24 years, also runs Noahs Ark, Watershed, Hazyview and Nelspruit private schools and the Barberton Academy, among others.
School fees cost more than R57,000 per annum, depending on grade level (grade RR-12) and curriculum (IEB/CAPS). The group’s stated goals are to provide a safe, respectful environment for all learners and staff, and to grow “our school yearly and be a positive influence in our community”.
SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) national spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said the Cosatu affiliate was concerned about the continued abuse of teachers “at these so-called independent schools”.
“We want these independent schools to abide by rules of employment. They act as if they are a law unto themselves. We are totally against this. We are aware that some of the schools threaten teachers against joining unions. But joining a union is a constitutional right,” Cembi said.
“They must join unions so we can fight against the abuse they face at these institutions. We call on the departments of labour and education to have oversight over these schools. What they are doing is totally unfair: they are now using education to make a profit while trampling on the rights of teachers.”
National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA (Naptosa) executive director Basil Manuel said “lower-end private schools” elected to hire foreign nationals as they were unlikely to approach the CCMA for redress, due to work permits or lack thereof.
“The question is: do these foreign nationals have a SACE [SA Council for Educators] certificate. You can’t teach without a SACE certificate. Are they qualified to teach? Also, to be paid R6,000 is criminal, if you are a qualified somebody,” Manuel said.
SACE spokesperson Risuna Nkuna could not immediately be reached for comment. Manuel said these schools wanted to make money by hiring “underqualified people or by paying them paltry salaries”. He urged teachers to join unions to take up the fight on their behalf.
Education expert Prof Gezani Baloyi said there were challenges in the private education space and pointed out issues of compliance, saying independent schools needed to comply with regulation and stick to the law.
However, MGS director Arhel Kouatcho Nana said: “Given our history and past achievements, it is unthinkable that we would have been allowed to continue to trade legally for as long as we have, if we did not comply to labour regulations. It is further basically impossible for us to have been accredited by the DBE to register as educational institutions and be allowed to register and run exam centres at our high schools, should we failed to comply or uphold the regulations and standard set by the department.”
He said contracts clearly included termination dates.
Nana said each staff member negotiated their salary with management, and “as a private institution we are not obliged to report or declare the salaries of our staff to the DBE or any other regulating body”.
“The only engagement we have towards the department of employment and labour is to operate within the law and pay UIF as and when we are expected to do so by law. Our contributions are done via external auditors and no staff members have any insight into such payments,” he said.
“Staff complement [is] 62% Zimbabwean teachers. This obviously differs from school to school. MGS is an equal opportunity employer and while we prefer to employ South Africans as much as possible, we also very strongly believe in employing the best person for the job,” Nana said.
Mpumalanga department of education head of communications Jasper Zwane said MGS was an independent school and that teachers had a contract with the owner. “If they have a problem, they need to discuss that with the owner,” he said.
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