Budget speech brings infrastructure funding, but no relief for teacher salaries

On Wednesday, (30 October) Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), revealing that no additional funding would be allocated to provincial education departments.

Minister Godongwana attributed staffing challenges in frontline services to provincial mismanagement, arguing that provinces failed to allocate funds for the wage bill as intended.

In August, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) announced plans to reduce teacher posts by 2,407 for the 2025 school year, citing a R3.8 billion budget shortfall over the next three years.

While welcoming much-needed infrastructure funding for new schools, the WCED expressed concerns about the lack of support for teachers’ salaries.

“We welcome the confirmation of our department’s additional funding from the Budget Facility for Infrastructure, which must be spent urgently to build the new schools needed in the Western Cape,” stated the WCED.

However, Education MEC David Maynier warned that the absence of wage bill funding could lead to larger class sizes, negatively impacting students’ learning outcomes.

“We are disappointed that no additional funding was provided to provincial education departments for teachers’ salaries, which will increase class sizes and negatively affect learning outcomes.”

VOC News

Photo: Pexels

Picture of Ragheema Mclean
Ragheema Mclean

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