The Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP). Picture: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers
Cape Town - Political parties have aired their concerns over looming teacher cuts in a heated debate in the legislature.
The debate, following an urgent request from the GOOD Party’s Brett Herron, was granted by Speaker Daylin Mitchell to take place on Thursday.
Herron, who opened up the floor, said he believed it was the Western Cape Government’s decision to spend money “dabbling in crime prevention”, that put them in the position of culling thousands of teachers posts.
“A quick check of the provincial budgets reveals the truth of these matters,” said Herron.
“First, education and health services have been defunded by R2.7 billion since 2019 to pay for a Safety Plan that’s had no impact on quarterly crime statistics.
“That’s despite the fact that dealing with crime is a national government competency.”
Herron suggested making minor reductions to the R5bn allocated to policing initiatives and the R21.8bn allocated to “innovation” over the next three years could save teacher posts.
“With better choices, no teacher posts need be lost,” he said.
DA MPL and Finance MEC, Deidré Baartman, said the province was not immune to the fiscal environment of the country.
Baartman, who brought along her 2024 budget book to the debate, said the departments of health and education received the lion’s share of the R84bn provincial budget, equating to 72.85% of the budget, with extra money added from their provincial reserve fund to education.
She said despite implementing a drastic R2.5bn budget cut, including on administration, curriculum and infrastructure, the department still faced a R3.8bn budget shortfall over the next three years.
The leader of the opposition in the legislature and spokesperson for the ANC Western Cape, Khalid Sayed, begged to differ, saying only 37% of the provincial budget went to education, compared to a national average of 41%. Sayed said children deserved better.
“They deserve classrooms where they can learn and thrive, not crowded spaces that stifle their potential. Education is not a privilege — it is a fundamental right,” said Sayed.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde defended the province’s decision to redirect 1% of the education and health budget to the province’s safety plan.
“We have children being shot every day, and citizens murdered. We must take responsibility.”
Winde said they had been writing to the national Treasury about the crisis as far back as 2020.
“On October 2, we will be having a dispute, and we will fight for every single nurse, teacher, police officer who they decide to make this about a political fight, when this is about our province getting our fair share,” Winde said.
The Cape Coloured Congress’ Duwayne Jacobs, said: “What happened to GNU, which has a DA Minister of Education? How do you rescue the country if you can’t even rescue education?”
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za
Related Topics: