Budget speech: R19bn allocated to keep teachers in class

National Treasury has allocated an additional R19.1 billion to ensure teachers remain in classrooms.

During his budget speech on Wednesday, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that more teachers are needed due to high pupil-teacher ratios.

The move comes amid growing concerns over teacher shortages, with recent staff cuts in provinces such as the Western Cape due to budget cuts.

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Education budget spent on salaries

Despite these financial constraints, the additional R19.1 billion will prevent further reductions in teaching staff.

“To prevent compensation of employees from crowding out other equally important areas of spending, R19.1 billion is added over the medium term to keep approximately 11 000 teachers in classrooms,” the minister stated.

According to Godongwana, 76% of provincial education budgets go towards paying teachers’ salaries.

“Only R24 out of every R100 is left for funding school infrastructure, meals for students from poor backgrounds, and stationery and textbooks, amongst others,” he said.

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Early childhood development receives R10bn

While the minister mentioned that early childhood development (ECD) is the “foundation to building the next generation”, the sector has not received an increase in funds since 2019.

“An additional R10 billion over the medium term is allocated to increase the subsidy to R24 per day per child,” Godongwana said.

The funding is also expected to expand access to ECD programmes, benefiting approximately 700 000 more children up to the age of four.

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Teacher cuts in the Western Cape

The Western Cape education department cut more than 2 400 teacher jobs in 2025 due to the national government’s inability to fully accommodate a 2023 wage agreement.

Last December, the Western Cape High Court received a last-minute urgent plea from the lobby organisation Special Action Committee (SAC) requesting it to overturn the department’s decision to eliminate the teaching positions in 2025.

However, the application was struck from the roll.

The Western Cape provincial government in September 2024 disclosed that, even though they implemented a R2.5 billion budget cut in administration, curriculum, and infrastructure, they still faced a R3.8 billion shortage over the next three years.

Cape Town lost 1 674 teaching posts, while the Cape Winelands district had 299 teaching posts slashed.

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