The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) has refuted claims of not releasing the September payments for education and general assistants.
These assistants work in schools under the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI) phase five.
The claims come after Gauteng premier, Panyaza Lesufi, blamed the Basic Education Ministry on "X" for delayed stipends, as it is a "DA-led department".
"When a DA led department fails to pay stipends, it’s business as usual. Double standards," said Lesufi.
The DBE Minister, Siviwe Gwarube, swiftly responded that her office does not process payments, but it is the responsibility of the labour department.
"The DBE has done everything to comply and submit all verification documents to ensure that our EAs are paid without further delay. Their work is invaluable in our schools," said Gwarube.
Despite Gwarube's utterances, the DEL said her office submitted incomplete supporting documents on time for September, which also included attendance registers.
The education assistant program is governed by a Multiparty Funding Agreement (MFA) contract between the labour and basic education departments, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
As per the contractual agreement, the Service Level Agreement states that the DBE should submit attendance registers by the 15th of every month for the DEL to process payments.
"The UIF requires the attendance registers for verification in line with the multiparty funding agreement for the processing of invoices for payment of 158, 000 beneficiaries from 20, 000 schools," said the DEL.
In addition, Clauses 6.6.3 and 7.1 of the MFA state that verified attendance registers must be submitted as a precondition for releasing subsequent tranches.
"These conditions ensure transparency and accountability, safeguarding both the beneficiaries and the integrity of government funding processes," said the DEL.
As the DEL waits to receive and verify attendance registers from Gwarube's office to process stipends, the minister's spokesperson Lukhanyo Vanqa maintained that the DBE did upload pending documentation.
"We can confirm that all the required documents have been submitted by the DBE, we are working collaboratively with the Department of Labour and Employment to resolve the issue of delayed payments to EAs and to avoid any similar occurrences in the future," he said.
Vanqa further said stipends will be paid on a rolling basis; "As soon as an education district’s documents are processed, payments will be similarly processed. This is done to avoid further delays".
The Star
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