Covid-19: Broke Eastern Cape govt unable to buy PPE! 31 December 2020
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The Eastern Cape Department of Education does not have a
budget to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for its 5 037 public schools
in 2021, department superintendent-general Themba Kojana said.
Kojana was responding to questions raised during a portfolio
committee meeting on education in the Eastern Cape legislature on 26 November.
News24 is in possession of the question-and-answer document.
Kojana could not provide a positive response to where the
money to buy PPE stock for 2021 would come from. Due to budget cuts the department will unfortunately
not be able to replenish the next consignment, unless the department receives
Covid-19: Should schools rather remain closed come 27 January?
28 December 2020 1:43 PM Lockdown COVID-19 second wave
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Will it be safe (enough) to return? Lester Kiewit interviews Basil Manuel (National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA).
South Africa faces a massive problem when schools reopen â we may not have enough teachers as a result of Covid-19, warned the Department of Basic Education.
Five days ago I got information that 14 teachers had passed away within 24 hours, yesterday 18 teachers reported to have died also from COVID-19, 32 teachers in less than a week all gone, from a single province that s reporting. The grieving over these holidays is too much. Elijah Mhlanga (@ElijahMhlanga) December 28, 2020
The controversial decision by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to not award inflation-beating salary increases to public servants in 2020 – under the last leg of the 2018 wage agreement – has been backed by the Labour Appeal Court.
The court in Johannesburg has ruled that the enforcement of the wage agreement is unlawful and contradicts sections 213 and 215 of the Constitution because the government can no longer afford to pay salary increases to 1.2 million public servants.
This is a major victory for Mboweni, who wants to implement wage freezes for public servants over the next three years to slash government spending by R300-billion and bring ballooning state debt under control. The wage bill for public servants is out of control; it exploded from R154-billion in 2006 to R639-billion in 2020 – becoming the largest component of government expenditure. In the wage freeze endeavour, Mboweni is supported by Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu.
MONEYWEB
app instead?
Implementation of the three-year wage agreement is in contravention of the Constitution. 16:15
Minister of Public Service and Administration Senzo Mchunu. Image: GCIS
Labour unions in the public sector have been dealt a blow in their fight to have the government implement the final leg of a multi-year wage agreement.
On Tuesday, judges Dennis Davis, Phillip Coppin and Violet Phatshoane dismissed the application. They further found that the unions’ appeal for the courts to force the government to implement the final year of the 2018 wage deal contravenes section 213 and 215 of the Constitution and sections 78 and 79 of the Public Services Act.
Decision not to rewrite has caused a crisis, says basic education head mg.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mg.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.