Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has been forced to step in after continued delays in the payment of teacher assistant salaries caused frustration among thousands of education assistants across South Africa.
In a statement issued on Monday, 6 October 2025, the Department of Basic Education confirmed that Gwarube convened a high-level meeting with key partners responsible for managing the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI).
The programme employs education and general school assistants in public schools as part of a government drive to provide short-term jobs for unemployed youth.
According to the department, the meeting included representatives from the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), the main funder of the initiative.
The aim was to identify and resolve the root causes of the late stipend payments.
Gwarube described the situation as “unacceptable” and said that fixing the issue was now a top priority.
“Education Assistants are not only vital to our school communities, they are young people whose livelihoods depend on this initiative,” she said.
“We are working tirelessly with our partners to ensure that all payments are finalised without any further setbacks.”
The department confirmed that the September stipends for assistants had been delayed due to problems with document submissions and verification. In simple terms, this means that some schools did not send the required paperwork to the funders on time, and those documents must be verified before payments can be processed.
Officials emphasised that assistants working at schools funded directly by the National Treasury were not affected by the delay and received their stipends as normal.
However, those funded through other channels, such as the UIF, were impacted.
To prevent further disruption, the department said it is strengthening its systems for document processing and payment approval.
Gwarube also met with Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Jomo Sibiya, who pledged cooperation to speed up the release of the outstanding funds.
The Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI), currently in its fifth phase, began in June 2025 and employs about 200,000 young people between the ages of 18 and 34 as teacher and general school assistants.
Participants receive a monthly stipend of R4,000, plus an additional R30 for data.
The current phase runs until November 2025.
The Department of Basic Education also reiterated that the programme remains funded and operational, despite the recent setbacks. The focus now is to ensure that payment processes run smoothly and that no further delays occur before the programme concludes.
In the statement, the department said it “acknowledges the strain the delay has placed on education assistants and their families,” but assured them that all outstanding stipends would be processed “as a matter of priority.”
It also urged affected assistants to contact district and provincial offices if they have not yet received payment.
The ministry said it will release an update to the public once corrective measures have been implemented and all payments are confirmed.