South African (SA) Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, has denied claims that her department failed to process stipend payments for Education Assistants and General Education Assistants in the Basic Education Department (DBE).
Meth’s Spokesperson, Thobeka Magcai, said the delays were caused by the DBE not submitting the required supporting documents on time. Under the agreement between the two departments, DBE must upload attendance registers by the 15th of each month to allow payments to be processed.
For September, the DBE did not submit complete attendance records on schedule. These registers are needed by the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to verify and process payments for approximately 158 000 beneficiaries across 20 000 schools.
A meeting between the DBE, the Department of Employment and Labour and the UIF on September 29, 2025, resolved that the DBE would submit the missing documents to ensure payments are processed promptly.
–ChannelAfrica–
