Seven College of Cape Town part-time lecturers from the institution’s City Campus in the Amended Senior Certificate for Adults programme have not been paid this year after they rejected letters offering payment of less than 50% of their salaries.
An employee of the college, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation, said the institution had offered to pay them an hourly rate of R152.49, as opposed to the agreed upon R386.34 in July 2019.
“We have rejected these offers because they are unacceptable. No consultations were done, we were very surprised to see that they cut the rate without informing us and expected us to just agree.
“The budget was drawn last year already and now suddenly our rates were cut. We have asked for several meetings with HR and the principal to no avail, and the sad part is that some colleagues solely depend on this income.”
The source said that the principal, Dr Mhangarai Muswaba, was aware of the part-time salary dispute, because he had signed the offer letters.
Another employee who spoke to the Cape Times said the situation at the college was “very hostile,” with people scared to speak out against the principal.
“This is an extremely difficult environment to work in. It is nearly impossible to engage with the principal on any level because he sees himself as the boss, with his word being final.
“This is a self-paid programme, not funded by the college so, we don't understand why the rates were cut,” they said.
Muswaba did not respond to questions.
Western Cape senior executive for the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), Riedwaan Ahmed, said the organisation was aware of some issues at the college, but not specifically the salary issue.
“Naptosa is going to investigate these allegations and try to get to the bottom of what is happening there,” he said.
Cape Times