Calls for accountability in SA education sector over ‘ghost workers’ scandal

THE education sector has long been haunted by allegations of corruption, with the 2016 “jobs-for-cash” scandal exposing how teaching posts were being sold to the highest bidder.

- MASABATA MKWANANZI

Nearly a decade later, the ghost of that crisis still lingers on, robbing South Africans of quality services, denying deserving educators fair opportunities, and eroding trust in a system meant to empower the nation’s children.

Back in 2016, Professor Volmink led an investigation into the sale of educator positions, which revealed that in six provinces, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) was implicated in selling posts.

The report called for urgent remedial action, yet since then, the public has received little clarity on whether accountability was ever enforced in those provinces.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has now written to Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube, urging her to bring the matter before the Portfolio Committee. The party wants both the Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments to account for what steps, if any, have been taken to implement the Volmink Report’s findings in the implicated provinces.

DA spokesperson on Public Service & Administration, Jan de Villiers, said he has pushed for stronger oversight to ensure government is held accountable for the Volmink Report's findings.