This after the spokesperson of the provincial Department of Education, Elias Malindi, confirmed that the department has received enquiries from Phase 3 school assistants who have not received all their stipends.

He says the issue of unpaid salaries is due to the department transferring less money to schools that could not capture the details of all appointed assistants on the department’s data management system.

“The department is giving this matter serious attention. It has already embarked on a verification and mop-up process to check all those who have been underpaid or overpaid.

He says the department transferred money to schools on 13 September 2022 for payments.

The Department of Basic Education has announced earlier that Phase 3 of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), which began on 1 April 2022,  was set to come to an end on 31 August 2022. It provided work to 280 000 people who were appointed as assistants on a five-months contract across South African schools. 

Malindi encourages young people between 18 and 34 years old to start applying for Phase 4 of the PYEI that will commence at the beginning of 2023. The application process is expected to start on 26 September 2022 and end on 16 October 2022.

ALSO READ: Free State Education investigates non-payment of assistants

Earlier this month, the Free State Department of Education had allocated funds for eight school assistants from the Semajan Combined School in Bloemfontein. This, after confirming investigations over school assistants that were not paid for two months.

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