The North Cape Department of Education is obligated to pay the teacher an amount exceeding R200,000 as arrears for the accredited director's allowance. This decision was reached after the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) found no grounds to delay the payment.
ELRC member Zoliswa Thaba ruled that the department must pay Amore Jacobs more than R200,000 for the period she served as director from February 2025 to the end of March 2026.
When Jacobs submitted the matter to the ELRC, the parties no longer disputed her right to receive the funds or the amount due to her. The only remaining issue was determining the timeframe for the department to make the payment.
Details of the calculation and dispute
According to the agreed facts presented to the council member, Jacobs was entitled to an accredited director's allowance of over R155,000 for the period from February 2025 to December 2025, plus an additional R44,751 for the period from January 2026 to the end of March 2026. The sum of these two parts amounted to a total outstanding allowance of R200,282.75.
The parties agreed that there were no disputes regarding Jacobs serving as director or the amount owed to her. Therefore, they waived oral testimony and continued the proceedings in the form of a written case.
At the time of arbitration, Jacobs was on sick leave, but the council member deemed her questioning unnecessary as the factual circumstances and the debt amount were widely accepted.
Positions of the parties and the ruling
Her legal representative informed the arbitration that Jacobs had given the department sufficient time to make the payment and demanded that the arrears be paid within 30 days. The department's lawyer, in turn, informed the council member that he could not state a precise date for the payment of the arrears. He explained that staff had been informed about cost-cutting measures but did not know of any other reasons preventing Jacobs' payment.
He also could not specify a reasonable timeframe for the payment but assured that the department would comply with the council member's decision. Thaba concluded that the department's position effectively constituted an admission that Jacobs had a legitimate claim, and the full amount should be paid to her.
The council member established: 'There is no evidence before me indicating that the respondent is legally prohibited from paying the acknowledged outstanding amount to the applicant.' Furthermore, she dismissed the notion that cost-cutting measures could justify withholding money that the employee had already earned.
Consequently, the ELRC had to determine what would constitute a reasonable timeframe for payment. Thaba noted that the money had been unpaid since February 2025, and Jacobs continued to perform the duties of accredited director until March 2026 without receiving the allowance. Based on this, Thaba considered it unreasonable to grant the department a long period for payment, given how long Jacobs had waited.
As a result, the department was granted until the end of September 2026 to settle the full amount. The funds must be transferred directly to Jacobs' bank account registered with the department no later than September 30, 2026. The decision also stipulates the accrual of interest, which will be calculated from the date the amount specified in the ruling becomes payable.
