Johannesburg - Delays in the processing of vendor numbers used to pay Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) interns and students have left some vendors and students frustrated by the processes employed to approve payments.
From delays to paying students to failing to approve training service providers, frustrated students and service providers said they have had enough of uncaring GCRA officials who send them from pillar to post when it is time to do their jobs.
This has led to various letters to the agency as well as the Department of Education in the province, including a recent march to the provincial offices.
One of the students from Ekurhuleni East TVET College, in a letter to the GCRA CEO and the MEC of Gauteng Department of Education, details his frustration at spending months on end without a stipend.
“We have been working since April, but some students never received any payment as agreed on the contract. We have been meeting with the college and GCRA officials as well, but nothing seems to work with the CEO,” the student writes in an email addressed to MEC Chiloane Matome.
Speaking to The Star, one of the many accredited training providers said she has yet to be assisted with an MOU, even though her students are eligible to be part of the programme. She said she has been sent from pillar to post after numerous back-to-back meetings to get approved as she meets all the criteria to provide training, which she continues to do with some students. She said after being given the run-around, she was asked to partner with a service provider of one of the GCRA officials’ choice, but refused as she meets all the criteria and has facilities of her own.
“It didn’t make sense for me to join another service provider as I have the capacity to run my own training, like I am doing now. I have been sent from pillar to post, but what gave me hope was a visit by GCRA to our offices for due diligence. However, after this, the same official went awol again. And when I finally got hold of him this year in April, he asked me to resend the proposal. I refused because I felt disrespected. To this day, I am still waiting for an MOU with GCRA,” she said.
“As an SMME, I am still paying a stipend to at least 15 learners from my own savings. GCRA not only failed me, but it is gambling with the future of the unemployed youth of this country,” she added.
Zuko Ncwane, the regional secretary of Sasco in Ekurhuleni, told The Star that he has been fighting with the GCRA since April after some of the students’ contracts were terminated for no reason, while others are still without vendor numbers, which affects their payments.
“We have intervened as a regional structure after nine students have had their contracts terminated. We then mobilised students to go to GCRA, and when we arrived there, we were told that the money would reflect on the same day. That never happened, even after promises made by the MEC,” Ncwane said.
However, the spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education, Steve Mabona, said students are not paid directly by the department or GCRA, but by the institutions themselves.
“The department can confirm that GCRA does not dispatch allowances directly to students. The said payments are made directly to the institutions, who in turn will distribute the allowances. It must be noted that institutions use their own policies and procedures to distribute allowances and all other related funds that are due to students,” he said.
He said the department feels the frustrations of the students who have not been paid.
"We really empathise with the students, and we are working tirelessly to find a workable solution with all the institutions. The GCRA funds close to 4 000 students across all universities in South Africa. However, there are only a few institutions where students experience these difficulties,” he said.
The Star