The Northern Cape Department of Education has been ordered to pay a teacher more than R200,000 in outstanding acting allowances after the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) found no justification for delaying payment.
ELRC panellist Zoliswa Taba ordered the department to pay Amor Jacobs over R200,000 for acting as a principal between February 2025 and the end of March 2026.
When Jacobs referred the matter to the ELRC, the parties were no longer disputing whether Jacobs was entitled to the money or how much she was owed.
Instead, the only remaining issue was when the department should make the payment.
According to the agreed facts placed before the panellist, Jacobs was entitled to an acting allowance of over R155,000 for the period from February 2025 to end of December 2025, followed by a further R44,751 for the period from January 2026 to end of March 2026.
Together, the two amounts brought the total outstanding acting allowance to R200,282.75.
The parties agreed that there was no dispute about Jacobs having acted as principal or about the amount owed to her. They therefore dispensed with oral evidence and proceeded by way of a stated case.
Jacobs was also booked off sick at the time of the arbitration, but the panellist found there was no need for her to testify because the material facts and the amount owed were common cause.
Her legal representative told the arbitration that Jacobs had already given the department ample time to make the payment and requested that the outstanding amount be paid within 30 days.
The department, through its legal representative, said it could not provide the panellist with a definite to pay the outstanding amount.
The lawyer explained that employees had been advised about cost-containment measures but said he was unaware of any other reason preventing the department from paying Jacobs.
He also could not indicate a reasonable timeframe for payment and said the department would abide by the panellist’s decision.
Taba found that the department’s position effectively amounted to an admission that Jacobs had a legal claim and that the full amount was due to her.
“There is no evidence before me indicating that the respondent is legally prohibited from paying the acknowledged outstanding amount to the applicant,” the panellist found.
The panellist also rejected the suggestion that cost-containment measures could justify withholding money that had already been earned by an employee.
The ELRC therefore had to determine what would constitute a reasonable deadline for payment.
Taba noted that the money had been outstanding since February 2025 and that Jacobs had continued providing services as acting principal until March 2026 without receiving the allowance.
Against this background, Taba found that it would be unreasonable to give the department an extended period to make payment when Jacobs had already waited for a substantial amount of time.
The department was consequently given until end of September 2026 to settle the full amount.
The money must be paid directly into Jacobs’ bank account held on record by the department no later than September 30, 2026.
The award also provides for interest, which will be calculated from the date on which the amount stipulated in the award becomes payable.
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Sinenhlanhla Masilela
iol.co.za
