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The Western Cape Provincial Parliament Speaker has agreed to GOOD’s urgent request to schedule a debate on the Western Cape Government’s decision to cut 2407 teacher posts. 

The debate has been scheduled to take place at the next sitting, on Thursday 12 September 2024, as a matter of public importance.

The government’s notice to school principals and governing bodies of the proposed job cuts has led to widespread concern about the impact of this decision on the right of teachers to job security, and of all South Africans to a quality education system.

Unsurprisingly, this regressive step will have a disproportionate impact on school communities in less affluent areas, which will bear the brunt of the teacher losses as their parent bodies won’t be able to afford the costs to replace them. 

We cannot sit by and allow decisions to go unchallenged that will undoubtedly add to the already severe inequality in the Western Cape. 

There are solutions to the province’s engineered funding crisis, which simply involve making better budgetary choices. 

Billions of Rands have been assigned to non-core functions over the next three years, including innovation and safety, while a relatively small portion of this money could ensure no teachers’ jobs need be lost.

GOOD therefore welcomes the decision on the debate as the people of the Western Cape deserve to be informed of the facts. 

It is the duty of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, as a legislature representing the people of the Western Cape, to hold the executive accountable for the decisions they make.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament