Payment Delays Plague Gauteng Education Assistants
Ongoing payment delays for Education and general assistants in **Gauteng** are not the fault of the provincial department, officials say. Instead, the **Gauteng Department of Education** (GDE) is pointing to administrative bottlenecks at the national level.
Blame Placed on National System
According to the GDE, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is responsible for the delays. The GDE issued a statement acknowledging “unfortunate delays in payments to Education and general assistants are due to the processes being undertaken by the Department of Basic Education.”
Verification Issues at Root
The DBE recently rolled out a new centralised payment system for Phase V of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative. The system has encountered significant hurdles related to candidate verification.
The GDE elaborated that “the DBE acknowledged that their new centralised payment system introduced for Phase V is experiencing challenges such as verifying candidate ID numbers against the Department of Home Affairs database, matching those ID numbers and names to the correct bank account details, and resolving discrepancies where candidate data does not align with application data on the SAYouth platform.”
While the centralised system was intended to enhance accountability and curb fraud, it has resulted in widespread payment delays, impacting numerous candidates nationwide. The DBE has been working to resolve these issues, but the delays persist, causing financial strain for many education assistants. As of March 2024, over 20% of South African households reported experiencing difficulty in meeting their financial obligations (Stats SA).
Gauteng Completes Local Verification
The **Gauteng Education Department** stated its data verification processes are complete at the school and district levels. Despite this, many candidates within the province are still awaiting payment due to the national-level bottlenecks.
The department emphasized that “Although **Gauteng’s** data verification is largely complete and validated at school and district level, some of our candidates remain affected by this delay due to the DBE national centralisation of the payment process.”
Hopes for Swift Resolution
The GDE remains in communication with the DBE, advocating for a swift resolution. The department concluded its statement noting, “We remain hopeful that the DBE will fast-track and conclude their verification processes to ensure that all youth employed at our schools are paid without any further delay.”