Teachers union Sadtu in the Eastern Cap said had won "an important victory" over the Department of Education.
The union said it had filed an application in the Labour Court to compel the Education Department to pay the salaries of teachers and to reverse a decision of the former Acting Head of Department to terminate the services of educators she claimed were appointed irregularly.
"The department has over many years failed to pay salaries timeously or at all. One of the educators SADTU represented had not been paid her salary for 11 months when SADTU launched the urgent application. She and many others have since the launch of the application been paid after the Department requested a postponement in October 2016," Sadtu said in a statement.
"As a result of this application many other members of SADTU have reported that their salaries have now been paid."
The union said prior to the matter being heard in the Labout Court, it had reached an agreement with the Department on these issues.
In terms of the agreement, the "department undertook to ensure that every educator who was appointed, assumed duty and rendered a service and who has not been paid will be paid her or his salary within 45 days. This means that the department now has 45 to ensure that no educator is owed a salary."
"The letters terminating the services of 3 educators which the department sought to terminate alleging that they were not properly appointed are withdrawn. These educators are qualified educators recommended by the School Governing Bodies after the interview process. The Head of Department had approved their appointments but later turned around alleging that they did not have the degrees specified in the advertisement," Sadtu said.
"Although the educators do not have those specific degrees they have the degrees which meet the requirements for appointment as educators."
Sadut said in terms of the settlement agreement which was made an order of the court these educators will now be put in other posts in the schools in which they presently are or transferred to others schools.
"In terms of the court order SADTU is required to provide a list to the department of all others educators affected by the former HoD's decision to terminate their services within 20 days where-after the department must make a determination in respect of each educator.”
“The court order further states that these educators will be placed or transferred to other schools. Therefore no qualified educator will lose their jobs."
"SADTU therefore calls upon all educators regardless of whether they are SADTU members or not and who have not yet been paid or have received letters of termination to visit their nearest SADTU branch and provide their information to enable SADTU to compile and submit the list to the department," the union statement said.
