Gauteng High Court crisis, and education departments feeling the pinch

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

• RAF cases crippling Gauteng High Court: A catastrophic car accident claim with the Road Accident Fund (RAF) could take over five years to reach court due to a backlog in the Gauteng Division of the High Court. The earliest trial date for RAF cases is October 2029, with police cases set for November 2027 and divorces for February 2027. Lawyers and Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo attribute the backlog to the RAF’s inefficiency and frequent disregard for court summonses, which forces many cases to default judgment. [Daily Maverick] 

• Provincial education departments feeling the pinch: Thousands of teaching jobs and school operations are at risk due to provincial budget cuts, rising student numbers, and increasing salary expenses. Education ministers and officials are in crisis meetings, with all provinces under severe strain. KwaZulu-Natal faces the most significant shortfall, potentially unable to pay up to 11,000 teachers. By September 30, eight of the nine provinces are expected to announce teaching post reductions for 2025, while the Western Cape has already announced it will not renew 2,400 contract positions ending in 2024. [News24]

• Half-a-billion in unspent funds by Gauteng dept returned: The auditor-general found that Gauteng’s social development department had poor procurement controls, underspent by R554 million, misused R6.5 million, and failed to follow proper procedures, leading to significant errors in its performance report. This scrutiny comes amid publicized chaos in the department under former MEC Mbali Hlophe and head Matilda Gasela. [Business Day]

• UIF online services frozen: The Unemployment Insurance Fund’s online services have been down for weeks due to a court interdict blocking a new service provider. UIF’s Director for Communications, Trevor Hattingh, described the previous provider as a major issue over its 19-year tenure. Minister Nomakhosazana Meth announced that the disruption affects uFiling, USSD, Virtual Office, and UIF Covid-19 TERS systems. [GroundUp]

• Markets: The rand extended gains on Thursday as risk sentiment improved on bets for a deeper interest rate cut this month in the United States. On Friday (6 September), the rand was trading at R17.71 to the dollar, R23.36 to the pound, and R19.72 to the euro. Oil is trading at $72.77 a barrel. [Reuters]