The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is stunned by revelations of a staggering 27,092 unfilled teaching posts across the country. The bombshell was recently disclosed by Basic Educations Minister Siviwe Gwarube in a parliamentary request from a member of the house to provide a comprehensive national breakdown of teaching and non-teaching positions.

The state’s PERSAL system, a human resources and payroll management utilised across government departments, presents an alarming state of education defects. Provinces are reeling from the thousands of unavailable educators, yet positions are vacant or frozen. As at 30 June 2026, the Eastern Cape had the highest number with a ghastly 5 730 vacant positions, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 4 700 and Gauteng with 3 994. The remaining provinces aren’t any better, recording more than a thousand each.  On the heels of this disgraceful train is the Free State with 276 empty roles.

For ages, COSATU and its affiliate, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) has been reiterating the urgent need to capacitate schools with resources, including teachers to combat the contributing factors that lead to acute overcrowding of classrooms and educator burnout. Austerity measures have dire repercussions not only on the personnel, but they also cripple the system in its entirety, gambling with the quality of learning and overall performance of schools. They feed into an already ailing system confronted by mountainous backlogs that pose a danger of eroding the gains and improvements achieved.

Government’s snail-paced response to these demands is worrisome. The education department and other key government departments cannot be compromised by the implementation of budget cuts, especially when the country faces a deepening rate of unemployed and qualified professionals prepared to enter the labour market.

Lounging while the glaring figures cause more damage is an untenable approach to this crisis. COSATU remains resolute in its rejection of austerity. To this end, we emphatically request that both National Treasury and Minister Siviwe Gwarube refrain from hiding behind oblivious behavior to these shortages that overload current educators, inflate class sizes, and compromise student learning.  It is imperative for both parties to realise that using educators as scapegoats for the adverse impact of budget cuts is a lazy approach. Numbers don’t lie.  

Together with SADTU, the Federation will continue to forge for viable interventions that position education among high priorities as it is crucial for the future of the youth and the country as a whole.

Issued by COSATU 

Nonzuzo Dlamini (Communication Officer)

Mobile: 066 194 3619

Email: nonzuzo@cosatu.org.za