Cosatu says 27 000 vacant teaching posts need urgent addressing

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has expressed outrage at the more than 27 000 vacant teaching posts, while the country is battling high levels of unemployment.

This follows a written parliamentary reply from Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube that more than 2 600 teaching posts have been frozen across the country as at 30 June this year. She, however, says this should not be interpreted as all were deliberately frozen due to budget constraints.

Gwarube indicated that the Eastern Cape tops the list with more than 5 000 vacancies, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 4,700 and Gauteng with more than 3 900.

Cosatu has expressed concern, saying the government is not moving fast enough to address this challenge, as it poses a risk on the learning and teaching processes.

Cosatu’s Communication officer, Nonzuzo Dlamini says, “We emphatically request that both National Treasury and the Minister of Education refrain from hiding behind oblivious behavior to these shortages that overload current educators, inflate class sizes and compromise student learning.”

The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA) says it is concerned by the number of frozen teaching posts in the Department of Basic Education. NAPTOSA’s executive director Basil Manuel says these figures are worrying. “We are more concerned about the fact that there are 2 700 posts that have been frozen and that worries us what are the reasons for this and of course because it means that if they are frozen people haven’t been appointed into these not even in a temporary nature.

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— SABC News (@SABCNews) August 12, 2026