At least 60 Gauteng educators cited mental health issues for taking early retirement between 2023 and 2024, while 1,599 across the country quit early due to ill health and stress during the same period.
The Gauteng education department (GDE) said at least 261 teachers retired on medical grounds between 2023 and 2024, and 60 of them were due to mental health problems.
Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane raised alarm over the growing mental health crisis among teachers, who cited stress, overcrowded classrooms and school violence as key contributors that have led to a surge in absenteeism and early retirements across the province.
Chiloane revealed that teacher absenteeism had climbed from 4.9% to 5.4%, while the number of leave days taken increased by 11.5%. In real terms, this means 850,436 leave days were taken by teachers in Gauteng last year, compared with the 762,592 days taken in 2023.
We’re seeing clear signs of stress and burnout in the system
— Matome Chiloane, Gauteng education MEC
“The biggest contributor to absenteeism is temporary incapacity leave, which is largely related to sick leave and that has recorded a 43% increase,” Chiloane said. “We’re seeing clear signs of stress and burnout in the system.”
He said overcrowding and pupil indiscipline were major drivers of mental strain, warning that many teachers are suffering in silence.
“The unions are correct, because no one speaks. Some [teachers] are embarrassed, and some feel nobody’s listening,” Chiloane told Sowetan in an exclusive interview this week.
The department had previously identified at least 75 schools as “extreme high-risk” zones, spanning Johannesburg Central, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni. At least more than 200 schools in a similar situation were identified last year.
The MEC urged school principals to show greater empathy towards educators under pressure.
“If you are a school principal, you really need to love and appreciate the educators who work with you. You must be sensitive. I do blame principals if a teacher kills themselves at school. How did you not know? There are always signs,” he said.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) said it has long warned that overcrowding and school violence are taking a direct toll on teachers’ mental health.
“Naptosa has on numerous occasions engaged the employer on these concerns through our provincial education relations chamber,” the union said.
“We have had members who could not return to the classroom due to incidents that caused mental health issues and others who returned while still carrying trauma.”
The union criticised the department for withdrawing external security personnel from more than 200 high-risk schools in August, saying austerity measures were putting teachers and pupils in danger.
“External security has been withdrawn, and schools are directly impacted by community safety issues and crime. Large class sizes have not been adequately addressed as the building of new schools has not kept up with learner demand,” Naptosa said.
External security has been withdrawn, and schools are directly impacted by community safety issues and crime.
— Naptosa
T˙he SA Democratic Teachers Union’s Gauteng secretary, Tseliso Ledimo, said violence, bullying and overcrowding are crippling classroom management and fuelling teacher stress.
“The level of violence sometimes meted out against teachers by learners is real, ” he said. “Learner discipline remains a major challenge, and overcrowded classes make it even harder. When you have too many learners in a classroom, it becomes very difficult to maintain discipline,” he said.
Ledimo said that the department must take the issue of teachers’ mental health more seriously.
“When a teacher is booked off due to depression or other mental illness, there is often no substitute teacher deployed because mental illness is not treated as a visible condition. That needs to change,” he said.
Chiloane acknowledged that classroom overcrowding remains a major challenge, partly due to infrastructure backlogs, but said the department was pushing to accelerate school construction projects across Gauteng.
However, several projects have not been completed due to shoddy workmanship and incompetent contractors.
“Our infrastructure development is done by the provincial infrastructure development unit, but we are also building 18 schools internally through the facility for infrastructure from the National Treasury,” he said.
“Some contractors are performing very well. I expect about eight new schools to be completed by March next year.”
Chiloane said the province will take a tougher stance against non-performing service providers. “We should blacklist every single contractor who doesn’t complete their work. The fact that you didn’t complete the project should disqualify you. We’ve kept that cancer in the system for too long.”
Sowetan
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