“I depend on everyone to get by... I owe my landlord about R3,000, and I live from hand to mouth.”
These are the frustrations of Paulina*, a participant in the Early Childhood Development teachers’ programme under the Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA), who has not been paid her monthly stipend of R3,500 for two months.
Paulina is one of 150 participants affected by the lack of payment, which has seen some abandoning their placement at crèches for their practicals. The programme is run by the Gauteng premier's office.
The nonpayment of participants in the programme has sparked a war of words between Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and minister of basic education Siviwe Gwarube. The two politicians were involved in a public spat on social media pointing fingers at each other.
Lesufi fired the first salvo at Gwarube accusing her department of failure to pay teacher assistants. Gwarube in response accused Lesufi of “peddling lies with your chest [out]”.
“I don’t know why, but I expected better from you. As a senior government leader, you know well that the payment of EAs isn’t the responsibility of the [department]. It is the work of the department of employment and labour.,” she said.
I don’t know why, but I expected better from you. As a senior government leader, you know well that the payment of EAs isn’t the responsibility of the [department]. It is the work of the department of employment and labour
— Siviwe Gwarube, Minister of basic education
Paulina, 29, who rents out a backroom in Soshanguve, Tshwane, said she was now dependent on borrowing money to attend her practicals.
“Initially, my landlord was understanding of my situation, but I am scared that she will not be understanding anymore. I owe her R2,400 in rent and on top of everything, I was borrowing some money from her to go to the practicals,” she explained.
The participants who are affected by non payment of stipends are from Mabopane, Soshanguve, Pretoria West and Hammanskraal, as well as the Pretoria CBD.
Paulina said the programme was her way forward that she could be able to get the certificate so that she can work for herself.
“I am tired and desperate. I don’t have any money for toiletries. The R50 that my mom sometimes sends me does not last me beyond a day,” Paulina explained.
Another participants, Tiisetso, said she is frustrated at the lack of communication by the programme, as uncertainty hangs in the air.
“I don’t have any hope that they will pay us the R7,000 they now owe us. They keep saying there’s no money, but from there it doesn’t go beyond what plan they have for us or what they can do in the meantime. We are expected to still go to the centres and do the work,” Tiisetso said.
Communication notices seen by Sowetan show a programme director from Lesufi’s office stating that they are awaiting funds from the GCRA.
“The GCRA is committed to seeing the project to the end. Your office will be updated on the payment status, hopefully, before the end of the week. Kindly keep the communication between the college and the students going while we manage all the other issues,” said the director.
Further communication said that the programme has been borrowing funds from Tshwane TVET College to pay the student stipends.
“We’ve been borrowing funds to pay your stipend from the college account since April. The ECD account has been depleted since then. We are also waiting for the GCRA to pay the college,” said another manager of the programme.
On September 29, the students received another communication stating that funds had not yet been received.
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